Next phone...

[5105973]

Tough choices. I have the S7Edge on my secondary line and the HTC 10 on my primary line. Benefits currently of the HTC 10 are current price of $499 http://www.htc.com/us/go/buy-htc-10/ and one year of free "Uh Oh" protection that covers one incident of water damage despite the lack of a waterproof rating or one incident of damage due to an accident.

For that price and coverage you get flagship specs, an amazing wired sound experience, expandable memory, fast support (updates are timely on the unlocked version which works well with my AT&T account) and they even got the Nougat update on it, which is working well for me so far, except I can't unlock the Easter egg, darnit!

It's a sturdy phone with an excellent camera that often outperforms my Samsung S7 edge camera on still pics. The front facing selfie camera is excellent and has OIS. It's worked very reliably and smoothly for me so far. I haven't had any problem with the build quality. It just works, lol.

My concern with them is that they are not doing so great so I don't know how long they will have their mobile division and how long my phone will be supported. For the price I wasn't worrying. It's always going to be a kickbutt music player when I retire it.

I like my S7 Edge a lot, too. What I like about Samsung is the promotional giveaways you get buying from them and for using Samsung Pay, which also works well for me, so far. I just am leery of it being all glass and fragile.

My husband uses a lot of apps and has recently gone back to testing his iPhone 6S Plus against the Samsung S7 Edge. He says Apps generally run smoother and faster on the iPhone and some have features he can't get on the Android version like being able to log in using Touch ID for some of his financial apps.

He also says iPhones are faster and smoother going from app to app. But he still prefers the customizable nature of Android for now.

iMessage is indeed something he and I both miss. We have to resort to FB Messenger to communicate with extended family. I made the kids use WhatsApp and they aren't happy about it. We can slam emojis on this forum but the kids prefer iMessage despite a bug they're currently experiencing with group texts.

 

[AustinIllini]

The main thing is to be able to easily send videos and pictures at full resolution to people on iOS. Don't have to have my 60+ year old parent download a new app or anything. That's really it for me. It's just easy.

Integration with your mac. The fact that I can text straight out of my mac for free.

 

[Wildo6882]

Integration with your mac. The fact that I can text straight out of my mac for free.

I don't have a Mac or iPad. Only thing Apple I use is an iPhone. I can see how that would be awesome if you do, though. But there are other options on Android. Granted they aren't baked in, but I can text from any computer where I can sign in on Chrome. So for me, it's that everyone in my family has an iPhone. And it's easy to share pics and videos with no issue.

 

[tbayrgs]

Integration with your mac. The fact that I can text straight out of my mac for free.

This is a big one for me as well. I've seen plenty of criticism online about other's having issues with their message conversations syncing across their Apple hardware but I guess I've been fortunate as I've never experiences these problems. As mentioned, sharing media with other iMessage users is simple and seamless. I also use it to share all kinds of other files (pdfs, Office docs, etc) with my family--something I can't do just using SMS.

The benefits quickly diminish when dealing with non-iPhone users but for someone like me who probably interacts with iPhones 80-90% of the time, the advantages are significant.

 

[5105973]

My husband just got an iPhone 7 Plus this evening--matte black. lol, I talked him into it. We were both curious. So far it's not that huge of a difference from our 6SPluses. The camera compares about the same to the ones on our S7Edges and my HTC 10. Sometimes it has the nicest picture by a hair. (The subject was our Christmas tree). Sometimes the HTC 10 does. Sometimes the S7 Edge does. It's ridiculously close, though the S7Edge does a weird lens flare effect with some of the Christmas lights. It's annoying so I give the nod to the iPhone 7.

The key difference for me would be in the two Android phones recording in rich stereo audio and the iPhone doesn't. If Apple changes that in one of the next models, I would be tempted. As it is, I'm content with what I have, especially since I still use wired EarPods and headphones.

If he keeps it he has a few days to bring in his old 6 Plus for a trade in allowance. (He's keeping his 6sPlus). He bought the generic unlocked model and didn't use his AT&T upgrade.

I thought the stereo speakers would really blow the S7Edge's out of the water but they didn't. He thinks the S7 Edge sounded slightly better. I did, too. But it was very close. My HTC 10 also sounded great. Again, among the three it was close. I am again impressed at how well the $499 HTC 10 compares to these more expensive phones (though my S7Edge was free due to the AT&T BOGO deal.

Hubby's going to put the iPhone 7 through his typical workday and test it against his S7 Edge for the next few days. He has been using both his IPhone 6S Plus and his S7 Edge side by side the past couple of says because the Edge was experiencing battery drains from processes running off and doing their own thing too often. He was getting through the workday just fine, but he wanted to compare the two phones.

 

[bufffilm]

I'm no iPhone fan, but I do admire how they hold their resale value a year + later. I have no idea why, I think it's an over hyped, over priced cellphone, but whatever.

Right now the old iPhone 6 Plus is selling used for around $500 to $600. Whereas last years highest end Android phone, the Galaxy Note 5 sells for around $300. That's a massive price difference just one year later. Where both phones had very similar retail prices of like $700 or so last year.

I will predict this, one year from now, the iPhone 7 Plus will resale in that $550 range, and Pixel XL in that $350 range. ( People paid $800+ brand new for the Pixel XL, and a year later will be lucky if it's worth half that price )

This is a good point for those that sell their phones when they get new ones.

If sucks, but dems the breaks.

 

[hallux]

Integration with your mac. The fact that I can text straight out of my mac for free.

So can I, without an iPhone. Google's Project Fi with Hangouts text integration allows me to call and text from ANY device logged into my Google account as long as that device has an internet connection. Works with the Pixel also, cell service is provided by T-Mobile, Sprint and USCC.

 

[v0lume4]

So can I, without an iPhone. Google's Project Fi with Hangouts text integration allows me to call and text from ANY device logged into my Google account as long as that device has an internet connection. Works with the Pixel also, cell service is provided by T-Mobile, Sprint and USCC.

Wasn't aware of this. Good to know.

 

[Wildo6882]

So can I, without an iPhone. Google's Project Fi with Hangouts text integration allows me to call and text from ANY device logged into my Google account as long as that device has an internet connection. Works with the Pixel also, cell service is provided by T-Mobile, Sprint and USCC.

You can also text from any computer from any Android phone with something like Pushbullet or the other similar programs. Don't have this ability with an iPhone. You can only text from a Mac or iPad.

 

[Nancy bout]

iPhone or Pixel
I have iPhone 6s Plus was going to upgrade to galaxy note-
For now I'm content

 

[Nancy bout]

Honestly I want 2 phones lol-
And alternate- someday!

 

[timeconsumer]

Tough choices. I have the S7Edge on my secondary line and the HTC 10 on my primary line. Benefits currently of the HTC 10 are current price of $499 http://www.htc.com/us/go/buy-htc-10/ and one year of free "Uh Oh" protection that covers one incident of water damage despite the lack of a waterproof rating or one incident of damage due to an accident.

For that price and coverage you get flagship specs, an amazing wired sound experience, expandable memory, fast support (updates are timely on the unlocked version which works well with my AT&T account) and they even got the Nougat update on it, which is working well for me so far, except I can't unlock the Easter egg, darnit!

It's a sturdy phone with an excellent camera that often outperforms my Samsung S7 edge camera on still pics. The front facing selfie camera is excellent and has OIS. It's worked very reliably and smoothly for me so far. I haven't had any problem with the build quality. It just works, lol.

My concern with them is that they are not doing so great so I don't know how long they will have their mobile division and how long my phone will be supported. For the price I wasn't worrying. It's always going to be a kickbutt music player when I retire it.

I like my S7 Edge a lot, too. What I like about Samsung is the promotional giveaways you get buying from them and for using Samsung Pay, which also works well for me, so far. I just am leery of it being all glass and fragile.

My husband uses a lot of apps and has recently gone back to testing his iPhone 6S Plus against the Samsung S7 Edge. He says Apps generally run smoother and faster on the iPhone and some have features he can't get on the Android version like being able to log in using Touch ID for some of his financial apps.

He also says iPhones are faster and smoother going from app to app. But he still prefers the customizable nature of Android for now.

iMessage is indeed something he and I both miss. We have to resort to FB Messenger to communicate with extended family. I made the kids use WhatsApp and they aren't happy about it. We can slam emojis on this forum but the kids prefer iMessage despite a bug they're currently experiencing with group texts.

Some apps are finally starting to update to allow for fingerprint login, this was my biggest annoyance when I switched from an iPhone 7 to a Pixel. I've sort of learned to live with it for now. It seems that a lot of companies don't really care about their Android app. Since I enjoy Android so much thanks to the Pixel, and I have an iPhone, I may compare apps on both platforms; those that keep both versions up to date with the same features (such as support for fingerprint login) will get my business as that's a huge convenience factor for me. That way when I switch between devices I can have a similar experience.

 

[Channan]

Back to the S7 Edge lags or is buttery smooth.

Let me tell you, Samsung's UI sucks and totally blows. Yes Samsung makes the best hardware, beautiful displays, amazing cameras, high end build quality, with great waterproofing, etc... They truly do build the best smartphones lately.

But...Touchwiz is vomit inducing POS UI over stock Android., With stock vanilla Android being so great now, there's no more need for Touchwiz or Sense today, look at the Pixel running 7.1.1 it's the best, now imagine a Galaxy S7 Edge running stock 7.1.1 Android, it would be AMAZING.

My coworkers all got new work phones S7 Edge's, I helped set them all up, and I was shocked at the phones. Yeah the display was jaw dropping gorgeous, and the compact size of the phone for having a 5.5" screen was fantastic, but holy crap Touchwiz just sucks so bad. It does lag, and on every S7 Edge I set up, which was 8 different phones, they all had slight minor micro stutter, or little bit of a 1/4 second hiccup here or there. Whereas my year old Nexus 6P is buttery smooth, warp speed fast, never once lags never ever. The S7 Edge's Touchwiz felt heavy and bloated on the phone, and was a major letdown.

It's almost 2017, I don't see the need for UI's over vanilla Android anymore, every phone should just run stock Android moving forward. Goggle has given stock Android most the good features found on Sense and Touchwiz, but stock Android is just so much smoother, so lag free, so much cleaner, so little bloat, etc... I think it's time for manufactures to wake up, and use the beautiful OS Google has given them, and stop ***** it up, just use it as it's meant to be, stock.


And the iPhone 7 Plus, of course that simple phone will run smooth with no lag, it's practically just a dumbphone with a large screen. It's not a handheld mini desktop computer, shrunk down to fit in your hand, that Android is.

I installed a Material theme to the UI and it's really not that bad.

 

[5105973]

Right now the IPhone 7 Plus is slaughtering the S7 Edge on battery stats. He took both phones off the charger at 7:30 this morning. With heavy usage of email and WhatsApp and web browsing and going into his various other apps the IPhone 7 is at 89%. On the S7 Edge doing similar stuff it's at 48%.

On the Edge he says the big drains were as follows: Android System 20%, Android OS at 16%, Google Play Services used 14% and cell standby at 14%.

On iPhone the biggest user was Mail and despite similar usage only 12% was used. He says he used the iPhone a little bit more.

That's roughly what I'm getting from my HTC 10 and Samsung.

My SE my 6S Plus were getting very poor battery life on one of the iterations of IOS 10. I'll install the latest version on them sometime this week and have another look at it.

Basically everything that I personally need to do can be done on either Android or iOS comfortably. It's the iPhone's inability to record stereo audio and the lack of headphone jack that have me favoring Android phones right now. At some point android phones will lose the headphone jacks and iPhones will record in stereo audio and get even better cameras and I'll probably go back to iOS just because I really like using an Apple Watch.

 

[co.ag.2005]

Right now the IPhone 7 Plus is slaughtering the S7 Edge on battery stats. He took both phones off the charger at 7:30 this morning. With heavy usage of email and WhatsApp and web browsing and going into his various other apps the IPhone 7 is at 89%. On the S7 Edge doing similar stuff it's at 48%.

On the Edge he says the big drains were as follows: Android System 20%, Android OS at 16%, Google Play Services used 14% and cell standby at 14%.

On iPhone the biggest user was Mail and despite similar usage only 12% was used. He says he used the iPhone a little bit more.

That's roughly what I'm getting from my HTC 10 and Samsung.

My SE my 6S Plus were getting very poor battery life on one of the iterations of IOS 10. I'll install the latest version on them sometime this week and have another look at it.

Basically everything that I personally need to do can be done on either Android or iOS comfortably. It's the iPhone's inability to record stereo audio and the lack of headphone jack that have me favoring Android phones right now. At some point android phones will lose the headphone jacks and iPhones will record in stereo audio and get even better cameras and I'll probably go back to iOS just because I really like using an Apple Watch.

my 7+ gets stellar battery life. I'm a moderate to heavy user and often go to bed with about 20% to spare (that's with pulling off the charger at 7am every morning and paired with an Apple Watch). I've been streaming spotify at work for about 4 hours on a weak LTE signal while texting, several phone calls, browsing fantasy football player rankings, etc and I am at 60% left (~245pm CST). In my experience, better than any android phone I've owned in the past.

 

[MindsEye]

After two years with my 6+, its back to android either a One Plus 3T, HTC 11 or Samsung Galaxy S8 edge most likely the One Plus. Reason i'm going back is the free developer account restrictions apple have introduced which was one of the reasons i switched to iPhone in the first place.

That and the post Brexit price increase which is why i ruled out the Pixel XL. I can't justify spending that amount on phones that make so many compromises. Out of curiosity does anyone have any idea of what month the flagship HTC usually launches in the UK?

 

[spriter]

That and the post Brexit price increase which is why i ruled out the Pixel XL. I can't justify spending that amount on phones that make so many compromises. Out of curiosity does anyone have any idea of what month the flagship HTC usually launches in the UK?

HTC is announced March/April and released in May I think.

Post Brexit prices will affect all phones given where they are sourced and built.

Re. Pixel: compromises for me are waterproofing and SD card. However, I don't care much for waterproofing but apparently there survive 30+ mins in water. And SD cards weren't on Nexus models so....

Is also not want to spend £400+ on a 3T with the biggest compromise of all, that's used for every single interaction, the screen. It's just 1080 AMOLED pentile is horrible at 5.5 inches. And then there's the camera which is average a and likes to blow highlights. If neither of those matter (or return policies and speedy software updates) then sure, it's decent for the price. I just don't buy that it's less compromised just because it undercuts others by a few hundred. I'd happily pay £50 more if it has a 2015-2016 display.

 

[MindsEye]

HTC is announced March/April and released in May I think.

Post Brexit prices will affect all phones given where they are sourced and built.

Re. Pixel: compromises for me are waterproofing and SD card. However, I don't care much for waterproofing but apparently there survive 30+ mins in water. And SD cards weren't on Nexus models so....

Is also not want to spend £400+ on a 3T with the biggest compromise of all, that's used for every single interaction, the screen. It's just 1080 AMOLED pentile is horrible at 5.5 inches. And then there's the camera which is average a and likes to blow highlights. If neither of those matter (or return policies and speedy software updates) then sure, it's decent for the price. I just don't buy that it's less compromised just because it undercuts others by a few hundred. I'd happily pay £50 more if it has a 2015-2016 display.

Thanks mate, I'm not sure if i can be patient that long so i might jump the shark on anything thats either available now or will be available by early March.

Regarding the 3T, as long as the camera is as good or close to my current 6+ i'm not to fussed if it is not the best. For the screen its most likely not something thats going to bother me if there isn't any serious defects to it. i've owned a Xperia Z1 which a lot of people didn't like and 6+ was criticised by some for not using AMOLED tech. My worry is the aftermarket product support. I've have seen quite a few stories on how poor One Plus has been in regards to handling issues which makes me slightly hesitant.

I do expect Samsung to increase their prices but i am curious about Moto, HTC and Sony. Brexit didn't seem to have much effect on the Xperia XZ.

 

[apolloa]

Premium, fast, reliable, lots of people own...

Hmm how long do you want keep it for? Because Google will update its own phone for longer then Samsung will. Apple possibly even longer.

 

[spriter]

Thanks mate, I'm not sure if i can be patient that long so i might jump the shark on anything thats either available now or will be available by early March.

Regarding the 3T, as long as the camera is as good or close to my current 6+ i'm not to fussed if it is not the best. For the screen its most likely not something thats going to bother me if there isn't any serious defects to it. i've owned a Xperia Z1 which a lot of people didn't like and 6+ was criticised by some for not using AMOLED tech. My worry is the aftermarket product support. I've have seen quite a few stories on how poor One Plus has been in regards to handling issues which makes me slightly hesitant.

I do expect Samsung to increase their prices but i am curious about Moto, HTC and Sony. Brexit didn't seem to have much effect on the Xperia XZ.

After sales support is what concerns me. Although I've always had each OnePlus device, mainly out of curiosity, I've ended up selling them within a few months. Not fancied seeing how things go after a hardware failure with 30 days warranty left.

Early March might see the S8 depending on how confident Samsung are feeling with the tech not exploding. On the one hand, they'd like to release it as soon as possible to make some sales back that the Note 7 lost. On the other, safety first should be their approach... can't imagine the fallout of another recall and $18bn+ write down.

I used to try some cheaper Chinese phones between flagships... Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, Huawei, etc. Makes you realise how much flagships her cost.

 

[MindsEye]

After sales support is what concerns me. Although I've always had each OnePlus device, mainly out of curiosity, I've ended up selling them within a few months. Not fancied seeing how things go after a hardware failure with 30 days warranty left.

Early March might see the S8 depending on how confident Samsung are feeling with the tech not exploding. On the one hand, they'd like to release it as soon as possible to make some sales back that the Note 7 lost. On the other, safety first should be their approach... can't imagine the fallout of another recall and $18bn+ write down.

I used to try some cheaper Chinese phones between flagships... Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, Huawei, etc. Makes you realise how much flagships her cost.

I hear you if price wasn't a factor i would be all over the Pixel XL. I too want that piece of mind of being able to receive adequate support if there is a critical issue whether in or out of warranty.

I would go for an existing model knowing that OEM's are going to release or announce updates to their flagships in the next few months but they all have a flaw that pours water over that idea.

Typically the on board storage being 32GB. i can live with 128GB no SD and use a USB-C mem stick to transfer and store media when needed but i want all my apps on the internal disk without having to worry about space. Whats more infuriating is that a lot of these flags from Moto, HTC, Samsung etc have 64GB SKU's in other reigions. LG even went as far as to not release their V20 over here for what i can only assume their reason being was that there was no 32GB version of that phone.

 

[Tsepz]

I get great Battery Life with my S7 Edge, anywhere between 5-9hours SOT, with 15-19hours off charge, depending on if I am on 4G LTE which is spotty here, to WiFi, I usually still have a lot of juice left at the end, anywhere between 20-30% left

Mine is the International Exynos S7 Edge.

On 4G LTE - Still had 30%

On a mix of WiFi and 4G LTE - Still had 25% left.