Hello folks.
I'm looking to replace my current cell phone. It needs to be an unlocked CDMA (Sprint) phone. Things that are important to me:
high quality screen
processing power
decent storage
Things that aren't that important to me:
camera
I have a price limit of $150. Given the above, I am looking at:
Moto E4
Galaxy S5 (refurbished)
Galaxy J3 Emerge
Moto G4 Play
All of them have 5" screens, but the S5 has the highest resolution (the rest are 1280x720). The S5 also has the highest clock rate.
My concern is that the S5 is using technology from 4 years ago, while the rest are more recent. Should that be a concern, or is the S5 the best option here?
Thanks!
mrfeh said:
Hello folks. I'm looking to replace my current cell phone. It needs to be an unlocked CDMA (Sprint) phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your best bet is to post this question within one of the following threads that is specific to your question.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1846277
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1620179
Good Luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I DO NOT provide support via PM unless asked/requested by myself. PLEASE keep it in the threads where everyone can share.
yes
mrfeh said:
Hello folks.
I'm looking to replace my current cell phone. It needs to be an unlocked CDMA (Sprint) phone. Things that are important to me:
high quality screen
processing power
decent storage
Things that aren't that important to me:
camera
I have a price limit of $150. Given the above, I am looking at:
Moto E4
Galaxy S5 (refurbished)
Galaxy J3 Emerge
Moto G4 Play
All of them have 5" screens, but the S5 has the highest resolution (the rest are 1280x720). The S5 also has the highest clock rate.
My concern is that the S5 is using technology from 4 years ago, while the rest are more recent. Should that be a concern, or is the S5 the best option here?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in my opinion, for this expense and one of the best!
I use a Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo and everything works fine.
2 weeks ago there was an update for the S5 over OTA. It is still alive and good.
In USA the normal S5 is still a smartphone that is one of the bestsellers.
I have no need to get another phone.
And the original S5 is better than my neo.
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I would go with the S5...
Amoled screen, wireless charging, fingerscan...16mp cam..
Put LOS or RR and youll get the best deal...
Or try a xiaomi mia1
Hello, had a galaxy s5 for around 3 years. My unit had a bit of a network issue, which sullied my experience, so be careful when buying a refurb!
Also, if processing power is important to you, you should note that it has constant slowdowns/stutters and, though not as often, crashes. It also heats up pretty quick and has mediocre battery life, draining pretty fast with any decent usage. The chipset really does not hold up compared to mid range chipsets now imo. Near the time I upgraded, it became nearly unusable for a bit whenever i turned the wifi on, though a factory reset and a sparser app library has alleviated the worst aspects of using the phone. It might be powerful specwise, but in irl use I find newer midrange chips outperform it in day to day use.
I recently upgraded to a redmi note 5 (china) and it was an upgrade in every way. From build to smoothness to battery life (and both cameras but you don't care about that). It also has the 6' display while retaining the same width as my s5, thanks to the 18:9 display. The aspect ratio is great in all apps that aren't games and in general UI use. It also has oreo out of the box and will get updates in the future, unlike the s5.
The redmi 5 plus(china) could also be a replacement that's cheaper, but I can't vouch for the screen on that one. The redmi note 5 has a bright lcd that looks really good. It's not amoled, but the transition hasn't bothered me at all, it's quite excellent! I've gotten compliments on the screen from many friends who have seen it in person as well.
So, yeah, look into the phone and see if your budget can be adjusted. Shoot for the 3/32 GB which is a steal imo. Oh, and it has a micro sd card slot, just like the s5, so storage won't be an issue. Another plus with these phones is that they actually have a fingerprint scanner that's not trash - another thing from the past that does not hold up.
I looked up the prices for these phones and they seem to be out of the 150$ budget, so, if the budget is rigid you might want to look into the redmi note 4, which can be found for 160$ and has all the same internals as the redmi 5 plus. I cannot vouch for how good the screen is, but it's 1080P IPS LCD. I would personally consider it a better phone to buy than the Galaxy S5 as well (working fingerprint scanner, larger screen, equivalent if not better chipset usability wise).
Anyway, I'm not really as knowledgable as most people in xda but I am a s5 owner, so I figured I'd chip in and try to help.
While S5 is still a nice phone, it is not worth buying one at this time. The best option would be to get current/last year mid end phone. Look at the local market websites, maybe there are good deals. Xiaomi redmi 5 plus is nice phone for low price, also redmi note 4 is nice phone too, you will get better peformance than S5, or at very least the same, more ram, much better battery life due to bigger battery and better chipset, you will get android updates.
S5 is still a great phone.. Do not buy refurbished.. you can find great deals on Ebay.. My cost $110 no dings, or dents or scratches.. Phone actually had very little call time on it.. Moto's IMOP are junk.
Hi ,
I personally think you should go for a newer phone like Honor 8. The main problem i would have with an S5 is the fact that it only has 16GB internal memory. Apart from that it is still a great phone.
With those 16 GB you will always struggle if you want to install many applications and keep Whatsapp data on your phone.
loomax12 said:
Hi ,
I personally think you should go for a newer phone like Honor 8. The main problem i would have with an S5 is the fact that it only has 16GB internal memory. Apart from that it is still a great phone.
With those 16 GB you will always struggle if you want to install many applications and keep Whatsapp data on your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does support SD Cards up to 128 GB though. I'm a kinda heavy user and never had problems with storage, always around 3-4 GB free in internal. Though I did put my games on my card obviosly (there was some app that does this, I forgot name).
i picked mine up monday for 45$. cracked rear camera glass. still takes photos fine.
anyway, i love the thing. i went from an s7 to an iphone 7 then to and old moto then to this. i love the effing thing. i get 2 days in low power mode with the original battery. im hunting for a parts phone now.
the s5 has issues from what ive heard but so far, im running fine.
After 2 weeks using the S5 of my wife I have to reverse my opinion. I installed latest lineageos 14.1 on it and it works like a charm. With lineageos there is still a lot of internal memory left for apps. Bluetooth which is often a problem for custom roms seems to work pretty well.
I've actually recently bought an S5, and although it is not the best option, the support for it has been huge over time and its still going on with amazing roms like AEX or CrDroid.
The only part I dislike is the storage, because yea 16GB are little to me. And the fact that it is refurbished is good contrary to what people assume, because, then that means its already fixed, you wont have to go through that pain as you would with a new one waiting to fail, that's how it is, you have more chances of a new one having issues than a refurbished one because that one already had them and its already fixed. On the other hand, "refurbished" doesnt always mean "it broke and we fixed it", usually its because people return it to the store, the package is open, they cant sell them as new, even if theres nothing wrong with it, it automatically falls to the "refurbished" category and not many people think of that.
Now, the Moto G4 is actually a better option, it has a good performance, but you should opt for the Plus version with 32GB internal
So, I'd recommend the G4 Plus, if you cant buy that, then the S5 is the way to go
S5 is still going strong.
I would not change it, but I need a dual SIM phone now.
So if you can get one, go for it.
However, I am not aware of CDMA capabilities or tested it, sorry. I have European model...
My uncle gave me his old S5 back in January to replace my dying S4 LTE-A, and with LineageOS 15.1, it feels like a brand new phone
im now rooted and running the latest lineage 14.1 and its awesome.
12 hours of battery, 4 hours of SOT and no issues. these nougat kernels are pretty nice. lol
people talking about storage, flash Lineage, have a clean sd card in and use the SD card as adptive storage. it shows it as all internal storage and works like a charm.
Bodisson said:
S5 is still going strong.
I would not change it, but I need a dual SIM phone now.
So if you can get one, go for it.
However, I am not aware of CDMA capabilities or tested it, sorry. I have European model...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
would you recommend the S5 as a backup to the Note 4?
I still have an S5 as a backup phone. Main phone Xiaomei Redmi Note 4x which I bought due to its superior battery life. The S5 imo is still good as backup phone and has an excellent camera (if you stick to TouchWiz based roms).
mrfeh said:
Hello folks.
I'm looking to replace my current cell phone. It needs to be an unlocked CDMA (Sprint) phone. Things that are important to me:
high quality screen
processing power
decent storage
Things that aren't that important to me:
camera
I have a price limit of $150. Given the above, I am looking at:
Moto E4
Galaxy S5 (refurbished)
Galaxy J3 Emerge
Moto G4 Play
All of them have 5" screens, but the S5 has the highest resolution (the rest are 1280x720). The S5 also has the highest clock rate.
My concern is that the S5 is using technology from 4 years ago, while the rest are more recent. Should that be a concern, or is the S5 the best option here?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello!
I can definately assure you that:
A. Off the phones you have listed AND
B. Your stated price range
The S5 is your choice!!
It is amazing!! You will not be dissapointed! Unlimited battery life (multiple batteries), screen resolution, clock speed etc etc.
I am currently typing from one! Lol, I have the OnePlus 3 and my good ol' trusty S5! Some tips:
You stated about being older firmware (S5 is marshmallow) whilst others are nougat..... The S5 is one of the most developed phones ever! even still!!! In literally 5 minutes and little knowledge you can flash a custom recovery and then a custom ROM, no root needed. I have used the S5 since the early days and have used pretty much EVERY rom, honestly!
I can suggest resurrection remix as THE most customisable, they have features beyond any other! They have 100% stable nougat build and Oreo also, I use them both. In fact we have multiboot so can run 2 ROMs at once just choose at boot!
We have lots of kernels if you choose to root like myself, this way you can have 2.1 amp quick charge, boot windows or Linux on PC from phone, double battery time, gaming performance and over clocking to 2.84 GHz!!!! The phone is a beast!! It is reliable as hell too! I have had mine rooted for 4 years, overclocked and its given me no worries....And waterproof with a removable battery!!!!!!
Hope this helps, any questions at all please ask, happy to help
ErbDroid said:
Hello!
I can definately assure you that:
A. Off the phones you have listed AND
B. Your stated price range
The S5 is your choice!!
It is amazing!! You will not be dissapointed! Unlimited battery life (multiple batteries), screen resolution, clock speed etc etc.
I am currently typing from one! Lol, I have the OnePlus 3 and my good ol' trusty S5! Some tips:
You stated about being older firmware (S5 is marshmallow) whilst others are nougat..... The S5 is one of the most developed phones ever! even still!!! In literally 5 minutes and little knowledge you can flash a custom recovery and then a custom ROM, no root needed. I have used the S5 since the early days and have used pretty much EVERY rom, honestly!
I can suggest resurrection remix as THE most customisable, they have features beyond any other! They have 100% stable nougat build and Oreo also, I use them both. In fact we have multiboot so can run 2 ROMs at once just choose at boot!
We have lots of kernels if you choose to root like myself, this way you can have 2.1 amp quick charge, boot windows or Linux on PC from phone, double battery time, gaming performance and over clocking to 2.84 GHz!!!! The phone is a beast!! It is reliable as hell too! I have had mine rooted for 4 years, overclocked and its given me no worries....And waterproof with a removable battery!!!!!!
Hope this helps, any questions at all please ask, happy to help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello.
Please make recomendation for Nougat and Oreo firmwares
Related
Current device: Galaxy S5
Why: Because S6 will be / is better in every aspect.
Sent from my SM-G900F using XDA Free mobile app
Gonna stick to Note 4
I like GalaxyS6Edge but i am going to stick to Note4 because SPen. By the way, SdCard and Removable battery are also my main reasons.
Sticking to S4 until I find a quality phone with MicroSD
Sent from my last Samsung device....
Micro SD card get the m9.
For 5years I had several htc devices back to touch HD and now m8. The point was I hated Samsung for their plastic devices and TouchWiz. Imo sense is way better.
But now with the s6 edge samsung has done everything I expected. Metal Frame and unbloated TouchWiz. So I will switch to the s6 cuz for me it has the more advantages then the m9. I will miss sense and the speakers, but I will get a fantastic camera and design.
Gesendet von meinem HTC One_M8 mit Tapatalk
The only smartphones I have owned are the SG1 and 4. Contract is up at the end of the month so the 6E it is. Never had any issues with both phones.
from a Note 4
loving the premium build and specs on the s6 edge
Going to be coming from the G3.
Mainly for the green model and because the M9 is underwhelming. Also to have a new piece of tech to play with
Moving to the S6 Edge 128 from my HTC One XL (Evita) because it's just about time lol. Also my device now suffers from excessive random reboots and severe battery drain issues.
Small chance I might go with the HTC One M9, but I'm strongly leaning S6 Edge at this point.
My smartphone evolution: S3, Xperia ZL (only one week), S4, Oppo Find7a and last but not least Xperia Z3.
The S3 remains in my possession in case of loosing/destroying my current smartphone... it's a reserve. The Z3 is a really nice device but the camera isn't a point and shoot one.
After skipping the S5 (didn't like the backside) the S6 is a Samsung phone that attracted my attention again in spite of the glass back (Z3), the non removable battery (Z3) and the missing sd-slot (I lost many, many data because of a broken sd card!!!).
Perhaps Otterbox designs a water/dust/shockproof case for the S6...that would be great...waterproofing is a nice to have feature but it's nonessential.
Probably going to switch from a Note 4 because after having the iPhone 6 I always told myself my perfect phone would be Android running on the iPhone 6 hardware with the iPhone 6 camera... the GS6 looks to achieve that
Once I see what LG has in stock, I might move over from my G3. I have unlimited data on vzw so I'm not too concerned about storage and as long as the battery does well in the reviews, I might consider it since I do like the new look.
From note 3 because I want the fastest and best phone on the market aka s6. Also want to have a smaller phone (Higher PPI yeaaah)
Current device: note 3
Reasoning: really hoping to, but not switching mainly because of the lack of SD slot and removable battery. I love their choice of new materials, but not worth sacrificing the usefulness of those features (swap batteries often and like multiple SD cards for back up/romming/music/etc.). Additionally, I've always opted for snapdragon variants (although I am not opposed to exynos, but that real world performance remains to be seen in this case), and the extreme protrusion of the camera is a real turn off.
Coming from M8 after a really good two year journey with HTC... I have very high expectations for the S6.
Glitch4583 said:
Once I see what LG has in stock, I might move over from my G3. I have unlimited data on vzw so I'm not too concerned about storage and as long as the battery does well in the reviews, I might consider it since I do like the new look.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you dont think its too expensive?
$699 for the 32gb regular s6 / $799 for the 32gb edge
or mind the locked bootloader?
im on the fence too. wanting a green S6 EDGE but ifk vzw is getting the green one
altimax98 said:
Probably going to switch from a Note 4 because after having the iPhone 6 I always told myself my perfect phone would be Android running on the iPhone 6 hardware with the iPhone 6 camera... the GS6 looks to achieve that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apple has never made a camera this good
GreeleyXda said:
you dont think its too expensive?
$699 for the 32gb regular s6 / $799 for the 32gb edge
or mind the locked bootloader?
im on the fence too. wanting a green S6 EDGE but ifk vzw is getting the green one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The price is definitely a concern to me since if I was going to get one, I would go with the 128GB model to get over the fact that I don't have an SD card anymore. Thank god I have a partner that allows me to buy stupidly pricey stuff every so often. As far as the locked boot loader, I would have to see how people are able to build out custom ROMS that run on Sense. Especially with the Edge model, I'm wondering if running on Sense might allow for the extra features on the phone to run better or at all. I always run Nova as my launcher so Touchwiz's interface would be running in the back instead of in my face all the time. On top of that, this would hardly be the first phone I've used that had a locked bootloader that the dev community has managed to get unlocked. We have some very talented people on this site that manage to do some very cool stuff. I remember in the early days of the M8, people were saying that we were doomed to get the device fully unlocked. Now, it's very easy to get that thing running fully unlocked. Plus, if we're super lucky, Samsung might release a developer edition with at least 64GB if not 128.
das boot said:
Apple has never made a camera this good
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you ever used the iPhone 6 camera? It is bar none the best camera available in almost every light. I love my Note 4 but it gets thrashed by the wifes iPhone in everything but outdoor sunlight. The focus time is the real difference.
altimax98 said:
Have you ever used the iPhone 6 camera? It is bar none the best camera available in almost every light. I love my Note 4 but it gets thrashed by the wifes iPhone in everything but outdoor sunlight. The focus time is the real difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We aren't talking about the Note 4 camera. We are talking about the camera on the S6. This is going to be the best camera in a smart phone upon release. The iPhone will be a distant second. By the way, you might be the first person I've heard that has anything negative to say about the pics rom the Note 4. I personally don't have one, but everyone I know that has one thinks it blows the iPhone away.
Coming from a One plus one. Just sold it on swappa and also sold my moto 360 just in case the device is a little more expensive. all in all , have $800 to spend. Lookiing at the 64GB Edge version. hopefully its just 750 and I use the other 50 to get a case or something,
Why? well honestly, I wanted the iphone 6 design with android and samsung has accomplished this (not something to be proud of). Also because of the fingerprint scanner, the speed of the device, the smaller screen compared to my 1+1, and samsung pay. oh and the attention grabbing aspect of the 6 edge
Holidays.... Which current or last gen phones are worth an upgrade and have the best/most active dev on XDA? Thoughts?
lordodin912 said:
Holidays.... Which current or last gen phones are worth an upgrade and have the best/most active dev on XDA? Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- Every Oneplus phone is a good choice.
- Stay away from Samsung if you want good development.
- Motorola has some nice phones with good development.
Lennyz1988 said:
- Every Oneplus phone is a good choice.
- Stay away from Samsung if you want good development.
- Motorola has some nice phones with good development.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thoughts on the v10?
G4 seems pretty popular, but I don't know if it competes with the V10 performance wise. My first android phone was a second hand LG P350 which worked fine, and still does, only the battery is dead.
So thumbs up for LGs.
As a plus, the G4 and V10 have removable batteries and sd card slots, if you're into those sorts of things.
Another option would be Nexus phones. This will also give you the latest android version ahead of everybody else.
The downside is no removable battery and no sd card slot.
There's also a phone from Huawei, the Mate 8 or S I think, which is said to mop the floor with the S6 Edge+, performance wise.
How about Note3 vs V10 vs s6 edge? Can't decide...64gb SD card and extra battery are nice....dev would mabey be better for note5/s6 though. Ugh.
lordodin912 said:
How about Note3 vs V10 vs s6 edge? Can't decide...64gb SD card and extra battery are nice....dev would mabey be better for note5/s6 though. Ugh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it wouldn't. Thanks to the Exynos chip, developers are turning away from devices that have it. I've been on the S6 forum some time ago and I only saw touchwiz based roms mostly.
I don't recommend devices with Exynos chips because Samsung doesn't release sources very often (if at all) and that's a big problem for development.
And developers don't want to put up with all the hassle.
Nexus 6 (not P) is still a good buy. In fact, a 64GB model is what I'm shooting for in about a month. 128GB is too pricey, I don't want a fingerprint scanner, and I have no problem trading larger camera pixels for optical image stabilization. Oh, and don't forget that the 6 doesn't have the Snapdragon 810 inside.
I made an decision myself a few months ago. I chose the GS6 and returned it and kept my Galaxy S4. I chose to wait out for the Galaxy S7 and other flagships to be released. But, if you really want a superb phone right now, read below!
First in short:
1. Galaxy S6-series/Note5: Most reliable Android phone on all grounds. Most reliable camera for a 2015 smartphone and has a long-lasting battery. Weekly updates from Samsung which improves the phone are also there! No SD-card expansion here!
2. Moto X Play: Reliable AFFORDABLE!! Android phone that does not crash just like an Galaxy S6. It has a much lesser camera, yet still better than our Galaxy S4. It offers an SD-card expansion slot, AMOLED-LIKE display with brightness rivaling the mighty Galaxy S6-series. Battery-life is this device' top point. It easily outclasses every other modern flagship smartphone.
3. LG G4: Reliable Android phone. Not a reliable camera as the Galaxy S6 (bad dynamic range, bad OIS in certain situations, slow auto exposure-adjusting and many more) BUT when it does work, it produces amazing results in specific situations. Offers mediocre battery-life. Expect yourself to become a wall-hugger, although not as much a wallhugger as people with an iPhone 6(s). It DOES offer SD-card expansion AND a user-replaceable battery!
In details:
Personally, for a reliable phone, I'd pick the Galaxy S6-series flagship model. It's simply the best all-rounder with strong points at every aspect. The Galaxy S6 is imho very cheap for an flagship and is just plain awesome.
If you are on a budget, I recommend the Motorola Moto Play. It's truly a flagship killer, except for it's camera. It's camera is vastly better than what we have on our Galaxy S4, but it does not get close to what an S6 can produce. That said, the camera is very usable! The Moto Play has a truly astounding 5.5" IPS display, about as ridicilously bright as an Galaxy S6 can get and has a ridicilously high contrast ratio (very AMOLED-like!!!). It's killer point isn't it's display though, neither it's speed (keeps up with an Galaxy S6). It has INSANE battery-life! It smokes all Android flagships and Apple's iPhone 6S aswell when it gets down to battery life! Truly, the Moto Play is my top choice for EVERYONE that is on a budget, or is looking for an insanely fast and RELIABLE phone that has mindboggling battery-life. On a side-note, the Moto Play also offers MICRO SD-CARD EXPANSION.
The LG G4 isn't a great choice anymore. It has a lackluster display due to a very low ,maximum brightness, feels sturdy yet cheap. Camera is amazing in specific situations while in other specific situations, it performs worse than even our Galaxy S4 (microphone when outdoors, video in 1080p, the LG G4 is terribly oversharpened while our S4 makes it look smooth like you'd expect). BUT, it does offer user-replaceable battery and a micro sd-card slot! In my opinion, I never swap batteries and only use an SD-card slot.
For both the latest Galaxy S series flagship and the Moto Play you do not need custom roms for stability and reliablity. For the Moto Play you might want custom roms for extra features that the Galaxy already offers out of the box. The LG G4 is a mixed bag here. It's a playfull device, not as feature-proof as the Galaxy S6 is but there ARE custom roms availible for it!
I could give you way more input than this since I research smartphones for my own business regarding what device suits specific people the best.
tuk1maar said:
I made an decision myself a few months ago. I chose the GS6 and returned it and kept my Galaxy S4. I chose to wait out for the Galaxy S7 and other flagships to be released. But, if you really want a superb phone right now, read below!
First in short:
1. Galaxy S6-series/Note5: Most reliable Android phone on all grounds. Most reliable camera for a 2015 smartphone and has a long-lasting battery. Weekly updates from Samsung which improves the phone are also there! No SD-card expansion here!
2. Moto X Play: Reliable AFFORDABLE!! Android phone that does not crash just like an Galaxy S6. It has a much lesser camera, yet still better than our Galaxy S4. It offers an SD-card expansion slot, AMOLED-LIKE display with brightness rivaling the mighty Galaxy S6-series. Battery-life is this device' top point. It easily outclasses every other modern flagship smartphone.
3. LG G4: Reliable Android phone. Not a reliable camera as the Galaxy S6 (bad dynamic range, bad OIS in certain situations, slow auto exposure-adjusting and many more) BUT when it does work, it produces amazing results in specific situations. Offers mediocre battery-life. Expect yourself to become a wall-hugger, although not as much a wallhugger as people with an iPhone 6(s). It DOES offer SD-card expansion AND a user-replaceable battery!
In details:
Personally, for a reliable phone, I'd pick the Galaxy S6-series flagship model. It's simply the best all-rounder with strong points at every aspect. The Galaxy S6 is imho very cheap for an flagship and is just plain awesome.
If you are on a budget, I recommend the Motorola Moto Play. It's truly a flagship killer, except for it's camera. It's camera is vastly better than what we have on our Galaxy S4, but it does not get close to what an S6 can produce. That said, the camera is very usable! The Moto Play has a truly astounding 5.5" IPS display, about as ridicilously bright as an Galaxy S6 can get and has a ridicilously high contrast ratio (very AMOLED-like!!!). It's killer point isn't it's display though, neither it's speed (keeps up with an Galaxy S6). It has INSANE battery-life! It smokes all Android flagships and Apple's iPhone 6S aswell when it gets down to battery life! Truly, the Moto Play is my top choice for EVERYONE that is on a budget, or is looking for an insanely fast and RELIABLE phone that has mindboggling battery-life. On a side-note, the Moto Play also offers MICRO SD-CARD EXPANSION.
The LG G4 isn't a great choice anymore. It has a lackluster display due to a very low ,maximum brightness, feels sturdy yet cheap. Camera is amazing in specific situations while in other specific situations, it performs worse than even our Galaxy S4 (microphone when outdoors, video in 1080p, the LG G4 is terribly oversharpened while our S4 makes it look smooth like you'd expect). BUT, it does offer user-replaceable battery and a micro sd-card slot! In my opinion, I never swap batteries and only use an SD-card slot.
For both the latest Galaxy S series flagship and the Moto Play you do not need custom roms for stability and reliablity. For the Moto Play you might want custom roms for extra features that the Galaxy already offers out of the box. The LG G4 is a mixed bag here. It's a playfull device, not as feature-proof as the Galaxy S6 is but there ARE custom roms availible for it!
I could give you way more input than this since I research smartphones for my own business regarding what device suits specific people the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sisters getting the v10, thoughts? Are the v10 and g4 basically the same minus the 4gb ram, build quality and 2nd screen? Very in depth thanks....2015 not a good year for flasgships.... In a perfect world every model would have, at least, an option for removable battery and expandable storage. And I read the s7 might not have either but who knows.....mabey I should wait until next year. Just want the next upgrade to feel like my last upgrade from an evo3d to the s4 ha.
lordodin912 said:
Sisters getting the v10, thoughts? Are the v10 and g4 basically the same minus the 4gb ram, build quality and 2nd screen? Very in depth thanks....2015 not a good year for flasgships.... In a perfect world every model would have, at least, an option for removable battery and expandable storage. And I read the s7 might not have either but who knows.....mabey I should wait until next year. Just want the next upgrade to feel like my last upgrade from an evo3d to the s4 ha.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The V10 is a nice upgrade to the LG G4. But, if the camera is important to you then it's good to know that the V10 has the same issue's as the LG G4 BUT, the V10 can record video with manual settings! If you want to feel the massive upgrade, then wait it out. I myself owned an Galaxy S6 and returned it. My little brother and my father both still own their Galaxy S6. I am running Albe's Note 5 custom ROM and when I compare my S4 to their Galaxy S6, it really does not differ all that much. Multitasking on my S4 is the same as on the S6, app-opening speed of small apps differ only by a millisecond. Switching between apps is obviously lagfree and ridicilously fast on the S6 and not on our glitchy Note 5 custom rom-running S4. The S6 did give me a few WOW-reactions, which were:
- Battery life, ~8 SOT daily. I am a chat-aholic and thus I use WhatsApp & snapchat a lot. On my S4 on kitkat, I achieved on average around 6.5 SOT, while my S4 achieves only ~3.5 SOT on the Note 5 rom.
- Display: MUCH brighter and MORE visible display! The S6 is pretty much perfect to use at ~30% brightness outdoors. My S4 would need to be at ~75% brightness to match the same out-door visibility that the S6 offers.
- Speakers: Very rich, deep bass and insane low frequency response while maintaining a very surround-like sound. Also, incredibly loud!
- Camera: It never stops surprising me how ridiculously good the camera on the S6 is. Samsung favors on the S6 to have no noise at all costs. Resulting in ALWAYS having a perfect picture to post on the internet!
- Fast: It never slowed down nor hang in the ~4 months my little brother had his S6.
ONE BAD THING THOUGH! Agressive RAM-management!
So, why did I return my S6 and went back to my S4? The S6' camera was only notably better than my S4' camera at low-light. Sure, my S4 camera is laggy, low-framerate, but I can deal with that. Back when the S6 launched, my S4 was still on KitKat and was pulling daily ~6.5 SOT on around 30% brightness with mixed usage. The S6 barely outperformed my S4 back then. I got a few audio-enhancements for my S4 which resulted in the S6 being only a little bit louder than my S4 was with more surround sound and LESS bass, yes less!!! (Speaker amp at 55, viper4android and Music Eq, all working together :3 ). My S4 multitasked better than my new S6 and my S4 basically offered all the same functionality as the S6 does. Remember, this was with my S4 on KitKat!
Now, you must be having a tough time deciding what to buy... It really depends on what specific part of a phone is the most important to you.
Balanced best phone: Galaxy S6-series/iPhone 6s PLUS (only PLUS model!!!)
Battery best phone: Motorola Moto Play
Specific situations (camera) best phone: LG V10
I guess that's my list right now. All phones that have mediocre battery-life are phones I do not take as an option. A smartphone can only stay smart if it can survive a full day with normal use only. Otherwise it wouldn't be smart heh
Personally i'm going for Nexus phones all the way from now on. It may not offer all the features that the LG UI or Touchwiz do but i'm tired of waiting for updates, custom aosp roms not working properly due to the lack of drivers released by OEM's, tired of LAG and stuttering throughout the phone...
Nexus phones solve all of that.
-Ric- said:
Personally i'm going for Nexus phones all the way from now on. It may not offer all the features that the LG UI or Touchwiz do but i'm tired of waiting for updates, custom aosp roms not working properly due to the lack of drivers released by OEM's, tired of LAG and stuttering throughout the phone...
Nexus phones solve all of that.
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Yes, they do that. But the same stability is also given by the latest Touchwiz and by Motorola's Moto mid-range and higher series phones. Especially the Galaxy S6 series and the Moto Play are terrifyingly amazing. No need for custom ROMS, no lag, no hiccups or stuttering, insanely fast and excel in batterylife which is exactly the part where the latest Nexus phones are terrible at. The Nexus 5X barely outperforming the batterylife of an Galaxy S4 shows how lackluster it's batterylife is. The Nexus 6P has average batterylife. Expect 1 SOT more on the 6P than you'd get on a stock Galaxy S4.
If you want a stable, reliable phone that does well at every aspect of being a smartphone, then the Galaxy S6 series and the Moto Play are the best option here. They update their phones fast, with the S6 having weekly system updates and the Moto Play a little less frequently but still gets the big software updates pretty fast. The Nexus line-up offer the fastest software updates, but with just 'okay' hardware and performance, what kind of improvements do you expect? The S6-series has weekly updates, improving hardware and software whereas the Moto Play aready is running on Marshmellow.
I owned an Galaxy Nexus and a Nexus 4 myself. In the end, I keep returning to the more feature-rich touchwiz on my S4. The Moto Play has near-stock android, but once again it's feature packed
tuk1maar said:
Yes, they do that. But the same stability is also given by the latest Touchwiz and by Motorola's Moto mid-range and higher series phones. Especially the Galaxy S6 series and the Moto Play are terrifyingly amazing. No need for custom ROMS, no lag, no hiccups or stuttering, insanely fast and excel in batterylife which is exactly the part where the latest Nexus phones are terrible at. The Nexus 5X barely outperforming the batterylife of an Galaxy S4 shows how lackluster it's batterylife is. The Nexus 6P has average batterylife. Expect 1 SOT more on the 6P than you'd get on a stock Galaxy S4.
If you want a stable, reliable phone that does well at every aspect of being a smartphone, then the Galaxy S6 series and the Moto Play are the best option here. They update their phones fast, with the S6 having weekly system updates and the Moto Play a little less frequently but still gets the big software updates pretty fast. The Nexus line-up offer the fastest software updates, but with just 'okay' hardware and performance, what kind of improvements do you expect? The S6-series has weekly updates, improving hardware and software whereas the Moto Play aready is running on Marshmellow.
I owned an Galaxy Nexus and a Nexus 4 myself. In the end, I keep returning to the more feature-rich touchwiz on my S4. The Moto Play has near-stock android, but once again it's feature packed
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Sorry but there are plenty of videos on youtube that show the Note 5 STILL lags, nowhere near as much as before but it's still there. Also i don't want to have to deal with crap like Knox voiding my warranty and ram management issues. Also i really like the smoothness and customization of AOSP based roms and AOSP roms will never run perfect on Samsung phones. + The S6 battery is complete crap.
I will agree that the Moto Play is a very good phone though, especially if you're into hardware customization and the price is quite good too.
Well guess I'll wait for the 820 chipset and see how it goes haha.......?
Yes. I'd also wait for the next generation phones. Right now there are far to many to choose from.
-Ric- said:
Sorry but there are plenty of videos on youtube that show the Note 5 STILL lags, nowhere near as much as before but it's still there. Also i don't want to have to deal with crap like Knox voiding my warranty and ram management issues. Also i really like the smoothness and customization of AOSP based roms and AOSP roms will never run perfect on Samsung phones. + The S6 battery is complete crap.
I will agree that the Moto Play is a very good phone though, especially if you're into hardware customization and the price is quite good too.
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I do not own an Note 5. The only devices I own is an Galaxy S6 and an Galaxy S6 Edge Plus. Both do not lag. They DO lag when you enable power saving though. Both have very agressive RAM management issue's. I recommend you not to believe stories about bad batterylife of the Galaxy S6 as Samsung pushes (at least here, in Holland) weekly updates. Their last update was once again for batterylife. This time, it was specifically for battery-standby. And it really did pay-off since my standby times have much improved. If you do not have hazardous applications installed on your Galaxy S6 such as applications that promise to be an RAM-cleaner or a battery-saver, then you should be seeing SOT's of 6.5 hours or more a day on auto-brightness. When I just bought my S6, mine had insane batterylife. My father's S6 had terrible batterylife. I was pulling 8 SOT a day while my father only got at most 2.5 SOT a day. Back then he had stupid Google Play services drain it's battery. Right now, he too gets insane SOT since a month or two ago.
AOSP rom's on an Exynos device? Why'd you even expect that? It's common sense to not expect AOSP or CM for an Exynos device. IF it does happen (like the just released CM for the S6), then it will provide you great RAM management, terrible batterylife and a terrible camera-experience. The S6 as of now is the perfect device for the average joe AND for the average joe that likes productivity. Do not get the S6 if you are a flash-aholic and bound to use AOSP because you think Google is God.
Moto Play is bad at gaming, but does the rest very well. The only phone that is the best balanced is as far as I know, the Galaxy S6-series. It isn't the best at every aspect, but it's always one of the best at everything it does, and that's what makes that device special and is why I recommend the S6 now unlike a few months ago
I'm confused whether it's ram or processor or nothing can make fast my device.
I use 300 apps in my asus laser. And average running apps would be fifteen to twenty. All these might not actually use at a time. But they are staying in recent apps even i quit using them. Don't say my top uninstall useless apps.
Prob is apps taking more than 4 to 5 seconds time to open. Im seriously looking out for which does not take time after i tap on the app. This is my only requirement. Multitasking. Help?
Sent from my ASUS_Z00LD using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
---------- Post added at 10:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:31 PM ----------
harigavara said:
I'm confused whether it's ram or processor or nothing can make fast my device.
I use 300 apps in my asus laser. And average running apps would be fifteen to twenty. All these might not actually use at a time. But they are staying in recent apps even i quit using them. Don't say me to uninstall useless apps.
Prob is apps taking more than 4 to 5 seconds time to open. Im seriously looking out for which does not take time after i tap on the app. This is my only requirement. Multitasking. Help?
Sent from my ASUS_Z00LD using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my ASUS_Z00LD using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I want to buy a flagship mobile. But can't really decide what to get between S5 or S6(simple version).
My preference and daily usage detail is summed up below:
18 hours of daily use. (6 hours of screen on time)
I need internet access 4G LTE is preferable but a 3G will work too.
I don't use voice services that much. (don't get much calls, i mostly interact on SMS or other social media apps.)
Should have a good camera.
Memory is a must 16GB or plus.
Should be snappy and No lags or glitches (needless to mention that of course no one like lags and glitches lol)
Should have a good custom ROM and Kernel support on XDA forums. (for example the Galaxy S3 has a huge XDA support as compared to Galaxy S4)
I Live in Pakistan.
Please suggest me a device (with the variant number)
Go for the S5 international version (SM-G900F).
The battery is bigger than the one on the SGS6 and the screen resolution is lower so from start you will get a better battery life.
Both have 4G even if the GS6 has a faster download speed.
The SG6 has limited space (32GB, 64GB, 128GB) and no sd-card option. If you record videos at 4k the 32GB version is almost useless.
At the same time the SGS5 has 16GB internal (the base version) and has micro-sd slot card so you can add cards up to 128GB, plus you can carry 2 or 3 and swap them as they fill.
The latest LP ROMs are working fine, no lag and now an official MM ROM was leaked which improves battery life and gives a smoother interface.
The support from the community is OK and you can find plenty of ROMs and kernels, both TW-based and CM-based.
I don't even mention the fact that the GS5 is dust and water proof and that you can keep a spare battery with you and just replace it when you need to.
And the last argument pro GS5 is the price. At this moment you can find the GS5 at a perfect price for its performance.
As for the GS6 I can say that it has a beautiful design, but it's very hard to repair anything in it, almost impossibile.
It's more slippery than the GS5, it isn't water-proof, no sd-card and the battery is a joke.
So I would gladly recommend the SG5.
Wish you the best!
@AlexVat thanks for the inside info mate, so far from your feedback and some of my personal findings the S5 SM-G900F seems to be the best fit. Since i have a couple of more days to finally decide/get the device lets hear more from the community what there say is in it.
double post.
I was always a dual user of both iOS and Android, but when the iPhone 6 came out, I decided to opt for the iPhone 6 Plus and use it primarily and gave my HTC M8 to my mother. I must say I had an amazing experience with HTC, using both the M7 and M8 consecutively. Recently I've been experiencing issues with the iPhone and the 6S does not really interest me, so I was thinking of going back to Android. The options I am looking at are the S7 Edge and HTC 10.
Since I've had a great experience with HTC, I thought I would go for the 10 but I read a lot of mixed reviews about it and from the looks department, it looks really similar to my M8 so it won't feel much different, and I believe HTC Sense has not been overhauled recently so it's going to feel almost exactly the same. I had horrible experiences with both the Galaxy S3 and S5, the latter being the WORST device I've ever used in my life (and I've used so many), which is why I am scared about going for the S7 Edge.
My experience with the S5 started well, but gradually kept getting worse and worse until it was time to give it up - it had the Exynos (not sure of the spelling) processor, so perhaps that is why? But I've always found TouchWiz to be quite laggy compared to stock Android, for example. I have read good reviews about the S7 Edge, however, and I have a couple of questions before going ahead and buying it:
1) How is TouchWiz nowadays? Is it smooth and snappy or would I need install custom ROMs and such? I really love custom ROMs and changing it up every now and then so I won't have problems with that.
2) Is there a noticeable difference between the Snapdragon and the Exynos? On the S5, the latter was NOT supported by developers at all, so it is the same case here or not?
3) Samsung seems to have many variants of the S7, but to my understanding there are two S7 Edge variants, one with a dual-sim (DUOS) and one with just one, so is that true? And if so, are they both supported by developers or just one of them?
4) How is your overall experience with the device so far? And is the S8 possibly coming out soon? I wouldn't mind waiting if it's going to be released very soon.
Thank you for your time.
p.s. I recently purchased a Moto 360 2nd gen smart watch which I absolutely watch and is one of the main reasons I want an Android device because its iOS support is horrendous; is the S7 Edge compatible with the Moto 360 fine? Or is the dependability solely relying on the Android Wear app itself rather than the actual device?
Rooting and developer support seem to crop up frequently in your post.
For that reason the Exynox version is probably more of interest.
However, I would suggest another option if you really feel that strongly about playing around with rom's and that is the Oneplus3. It has all the support you need.
Personally, the worst thing I can say about the Edge is that the alarm doesn't go quiet enough ... . I also use the Op3 though I have not rooted, it works just fine as is (as does the S7E).
Both are plenty fast enough for any software currently available. - I think half the problems some seem to have with the S7(E) seems to originate with the need to customize every little bit.
TouchWhiz is good (imho) and even the browser is optimized and blazingly fast. At the end of the day it comes down to UI preference. Op's UI is much closer to stock Android and I like that too.
When it comes to form factor and pride of ownership, there is only one winner though and I doubt many could argue with that one.
1) Honestly I can't think of a single bad thing about the TouchWiz on the S7 Edge. Works just fine, My only serious complain is that dark themes don't theme some parts of the overall UI (such as the battery graph, and set alarms) and therefore are left white and looks... unfinished. In terms of performance no issues whatsoever.
2) There is difference yes, the Exynos being the better option. People have reported better user experience, as well as better battery life on the Exynos version. However don't expect much development for the version with Samsung's cpu.
4) The S7 is a few months old, way too early to talk about S8. It is a really good phone, probably the best I've had and I've had my fair and square experience with smartphones. The battery life for me alone is better than anything I've tried, maybe only for the 6S Plus. Overall 4+ hours SoT on heavy day.
The HTC is a good phone, but I personally believe the S7 edge is the better option here. The M10 is not worth the askes price.
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Thank you for your replies, gentleman. I'm sorry it has taken me so long to reply but I got caught up in other things and for some reason I did not receive email notifications of your replies even though I have subscribed to the thread.
I believe I'm going for the S7 Edge today since I'm off work. I would like to know how to tell between a Snapdragon or Exynos processor? Is it perhaps written on the box itself?
And your posts seem to be conflicting since drummerman says the Exynos processor is better for development while derWolf says otherwise. Which one is it? Did I misunderstand your posts, perhaps?
Thank you!
TarekElsakka said:
Thank you for your replies, gentleman. I'm sorry it has taken me so long to reply but I got caught up in other things and for some reason I did not receive email notifications of your replies even though I have subscribed to the thread.
I believe I'm going for the S7 Edge today since I'm off work. I would like to know how to tell between a Snapdragon or Exynos processor? Is it perhaps written on the box itself?
And your posts seem to be conflicting since drummerman says the Exynos processor is better for development while derWolf says otherwise. Which one is it? Did I misunderstand your posts, perhaps?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge with the Exynos processor is the best in my opinion. The Galaxy S7 with the Exynos processor is the SM-G930F and the S7 Edge is the SM-G935F. The "F" is the designation for the Global model with an unlocked bootloader and can easily be rooted with CF Autoroot and Odin. TWRP is available for both variants of the S7 as well.
If you can open the box at the store and power up the device, go to Settings - About Device
You will see the model number.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA-Developers mobile app
Hi guys! Just thought about creating a new thread about what would be our next device. This is 2017 and i thought it was time to move on and put my SAMSUNG GALAXY MINI(GT-9192)(2013)to rest. Although it is still working well and I might keep it for a few months before giving it away to my friend or family,but as said could not resist the temptation for a new device (Bigger-better-sharper display, bigger battery,fast charging, notification led, fingerprint sensor, updated android( had enough of custom roms)good build quality etc.).
So I choose..............LENOVO P2. Yup, after reading/watching hundreds of reviews i thought it is best Value for money device at the moment. Anyways................ share your stories. Thanks for reading.
UPDATE: SOLD my LENOVO P2.......primary reason....too big for my small hands. Second: I just hate dull stock like ui. Otherwise the device is very good.
UPDATE 2: Bought , used for a week and sold Lenovo Z2 plus/ZUK Z2(4/64). Reason for selling: LCD display. I will never buy a phone with LCD again. Reason 2: Device is compact but too thick. So it fails the purpose(ergonomics).
UPDATE 3: Finally(I hope so ) settled on GALAXY A5 2017(BLACK). Got it for around $250 from Amazon deal. So far enjoying the device. Its bigger and heavier compared to S4 MINI, but compact days are over i guess!!
I have no idea what could be the successor of my s4 mini, specially in terms of dimensions and cost.......
Went for the Sony Xperia X Compact, mainly for following reasons
- smallest form factor for modern mobile I could find, in combination with below
- acceptable price
- open source program (open device program gives you complete binaries and manual to build aosp)
- enough features for me (fingerprint, NFC, enough power for encryption, etc.)
So far I am happy with it. Running a 6.0.1 AOSP on it (no N, due to XPosed); completely removed google, hence microg.
I remember coming to a conclusion about a year ago when i thought about replacing my s4 mini. I realized at that time, I cannot replace my s4 mini.
So bought a Nexus 5X and have been using it alongside my S4 Mini. Any apps that I dont use on my main phone (5X) are installed on s4 mini. It was also
my backup device and I my parents used it occasionally when their phones were out for repair. I am so proud of my "serrano", I will never give up on it.
I will use it till it no longer functions. Awesome phone, phenomenal custom rom support. I would like to take this opportunity to thank @arco68 for putting
an amazing effort to keep this 2013 midrange phone more than relevant in 2017. Thanks for your work man. Cheers.
replacing with what?
for my usecase there is no option available.
- size
- replaceable battery
- sd-card
- hardware-home-button
- KK rom
these are the hardware facts. i also use an amami and it is quite comparable.
unfortunately no battery swap possible, though water-resistant
if i go to the OS features there is no option even close to the KK rom.
batterylife, customization, xposed, BLN (mandatory!). all worse or even
not possible on newer roms.
lucky me has two unboxed serranos, so it will work for the next years
I have a Nexus 5X
You want small (& cheap)?
https://www.xda-developers.com/jelly-is-a-2-45-smartphone-that-runs-android-nougat/
I cannot replace my s4 mini. So I bought another one, just in case of the "Vietnamese phone death" as that happening very often.
IronRoo said:
You want small (& cheap)?
https://www.xda-developers.com/jelly-is-a-2-45-smartphone-that-runs-android-nougat/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good idea, but the resolution si quite embarrassing
It's one step back respect to the s4mini
I got my Honor 8 a few months ago
I just bought my first (brand new) I9505 a couple of weeks ago, to replace an old I9100. Previously I had experimented with a Jolla phone from 2014-2016, but Sailfish didn't quite cut it for me in terms of its versatility and the device wasn't as ergonomic as I would like. Last year I also picked up a mint Nokia 6310i, which I will use as a phone for as long as the GSM networks in the UK aren't shut down.
The GS4 Mini is unique for having one of the last full RGB matrix AMOLED displays, which at a pixel density of below 300 is a big deal. The combination of the size and a removable battery makes the device a perfect fit for me, I even bought a couple of genuine spare batteries, a Casemate tough case and Mediadevil screen protectors, this should allow the phone to last me a heck of a long time. LineageOS 13 will suffice until 14.1 builds become stable.
I do not want to replace S4 Mini. Only if absolutely necessary. Size, RAM, Screen, etc. Are perfect for my use. I would continue to use KK if there were security patches. But AOKP 7 works perfectly. AOSP ROMS just does not have the same quality in the camera and audio recordings. I used a lot of camera and audio recordings (in stereo) in KK. But I still do not want to replace. Only when this new battery is gone. Maybe until that happens Samsung returns with compact and quality versions. S5 Mini was a very bad one. He would be the replacement at the time. But camera, audio recording, etc. Were bad when I compared my S4 Mini.
Just ordered a Doogee s60, but I am holding on to the mighty 257 just in case. Arco68 has been instrumental in keeping mine going and I can't thank him enough. Now I just have to gain his mad skills and start hacking away at the Doogee.
I have 3 phones: s4 mini I9195I, Moto E 2015 and a Galaxy Young GT-S6310N. Next phones probably gonna be an s6 if I can get hold of one.
I bought a Xiaomi Mi 5S Plus
Probably i would buy a galaxy A3 for the actual size very similar to S4mini and for a respectful hw components. Sony Xperia X compact the second choiche or maybe the first one..
I upgraded to a Galaxy A310f(£100 special offer) when it was released in 2016, from the S4 Mini i9195. The adequate A3 lasted several months before something gave up inside and the (non-removable) battery decided to pretend it was constantly charging, even when unplugged, while the power continued to fall until it was empty.
A void warranty due to customisations etc. has rendered it a glass-slab paper-weight until I might decide to get it fixed myself.
In the meantime as a replacement, I found a second hand old, trusty i9195 in a local shop and, to be honest, I'm going to be disappointed if/when it becomes time to replace it again. Lovely little phone with loads of bug-free ROM options(unlike the A3, for now, unless you like Touchwiz, I don't), removable battery, perfect size, the only thing I actually miss from my A3 is the USB-OTG capability but I can live without it.
Long live the S4 Mini! ???
I think i would buy a galaxy A3 2017
Maybe the S9 mini, if this rumor is true.
still nothing comparable
untill today i am not aware of an successor of my GT-i9195 pack
regarding:
- size
- OLED display
- KK 2 O CustomRoms stable and unstable ofcorse
- removable battery (using this app. 2times a month!)
- sdCard slot