Phones

[P-Dub]

Does the "Ok google" thing do any voice replies? or just info card on your watch? I was trying to think of a phrase that would sound natural as well as a somewhat natural movement of the wrist to activate this feature. The closest I could come up with was "I wonder if I googled..." or maybe just "I wonder if..." But do this as you bring your arms up and cross them or bring your watch hand up and point to your head then cross your hands and look down 'naturally' and see the info card. "Oh yes, it was..." I bet there are some youtube demos of some fun uses.

[impala454]

There's no speaker on the watch, so it won't reply via voice, although the OK Google functionality on the phone will, depending on the question you ask. It seems that, if you google something and it has an info "card" on the main Google page, is when you get the nicer feedback. To go with the Andy Dalton example: https://www.google.com/search?q=andy...oq=andy+dalton . The wrist motion merely brings up the main watch screen, then you can speak to it or touch it or whatever.

[impala454]

Here's the battery stats so far. I intentionally didn't charge it for an extra day. That's 1 day 14 hrs and still at 30% and about 3.5 hrs screen on time. Pretty awesome.

[Hdale85]

Linus finally released his Moto360 review.

http://youtu.be/L-zDtBINvzk

[P-Dub]

It's kinda funny, I was just thinking about posting a thought I had last week about carry over data and low and behold T-Mobile goes and does an announcement today:

http://www.t-mobile.com/offer/data-stash-data-roll.html

Go ahead – Keep the data that’s yours
Data Stash lets you roll the extra unused 4G LTE data you paid for into the next month. It’s automatically included with your postpaid Simple Choice Plan, with no fees and no overages, ever. And it applies to all 4G LTE data that you’ve paid for.

Here’s how it works:

Starting with your January bill cycle, Data Stash will be available to all T-Mobile postpaid Simple Choice customers.
Sign up for a postpaid Simple Choice Plan with 4G LTE data for your phone (minimum 3GB 4G LTE data) or tablet (minimum 1GB 4G LTE data).
Use your data all month to stream, surf, and download worry-free.
At the end of the month, all your unused 4G LTE data – rounded up to the nearest megabyte – rolls into your stash to be used any time in the next 12 months.
Plus, if you have an eligible plan, we’ll pre-build your stash with a one-time up to 10GB 4G LTE Free Data Stash. Once you’ve used up that stash, you’ll automatically start rolling your unused 4G LTE high-speed data into the next month.

It's not quite clear to me if this is just a calendar year thing, ie Jan to Dec or if it is a rolling 12 month plan. Either way, just to be able to roll over unused data would be really nice.

If you have good coverage with T-Mobile, this would be pretty interesting to have. I don't know what they charge for the qualifying plans nor how they compare to Verizon or AT&T.

I would love to see this come up to Canada, but I doubt it.

My 1 GB plan is not much data, so I use it very judiciously. I tether to another device that has a 6 GB plan, so I can make due with 500 MB and even 300 MB per month. Lowest I ever got it down to was about 50 MB. I always keep a bit in reserve just in case.

[Hdale85]

T-Mobile has been pushing the cell phone industry into better practices for consumers for a while now, I wish they had better coverage out here because I love the direction they are going as a company.

[P-Dub]

Was following a thread over in another forum where that is the main issue. The coverage is not as good and the fallback is like 2G/Edge. I have experienced Edge before and I think my dialup modem was faster.

There is something about them doing network upgrades and dropping their 2G coverage so that everything is 4G/LTE and will be covering about 300 million. Not sure how they come up with those figures, but as they increase coverage next year, this may be a viable option for more and more people. Gotta love competition.

I just know that an offshoot to T-mobile increasing their network, it works for us in that our Roam SIM uses the T-mobile network. Am thinking of a possible road trip next year down to California, would be interesting to compare coverage as I travel between AT&T and T-Mobile as I drive.

[P-Dub]

I've got something in the works for work. Will see in a about a month or two if it works out. Will report back.

Well, I've got 2 test units from Samsung. The Note4 and the S5.

Am setting up the Note4 first. This is going to take some time. But initial impression are that the Note4 is a nice feeling phone. The metal band around the side does make a difference. For some reason, the size isn't as daunting as the iPhone 6+, but they are comparable. I have these units in order to test out the Samsung Knox security features and workspace containment.

Like anything this is looking to be a bigger project than I had envisioned.

[Hdale85]

Been running Android Lollipop on my tablet now for about a week and I have to say I'm loving it, it's running extremely well and very smooth.

[madmac]

Well, I've got 2 test units from Samsung. The Note4 and the S5.

Am setting up the Note4 first. This is going to take some time. But initial impression are that the Note4 is a nice feeling phone. The metal band around the side does make a difference. For some reason, the size isn't as daunting as the iPhone 6+, but they are comparable. I have these units in order to test out the Samsung Knox security features and workspace containment.

Like anything this is looking to be a bigger project than I had envisioned.

I have the Note II and love it! What are the improvements with the Note 4 ?

[Ovation]

My iPhone 6 Plus 128GB should be in my hands tomorrow. Upgrading from the original 4. Should be quite a difference.

[mjb]

Congratulations, I'm sure you'll love it. It's quite a jump up from the 4. I have a 128Gb 6 (not the plus) and am very happy with it.

[P-Dub]

I have the Note II and love it! What are the improvements with the Note 4 ?

Here's a link to a quick comparison between the Note 2 and Note 4.

So far the battery life is not living up to my expectations. I basically got about 10.5 hour of mixed use time. This is from about 6:30 am to about 5 pm, then I was down to 15%. At which time I turned on the ultra battery saving mode. And hardly used it during the next 5 yours. It dropped about 4% as I checked a couple of things.







The fast charging feature of the Note 4 really works well. I'm up to 77% from 8% in 44 minutes.

I hope after a week of use, I will see better standby.

Ovation - The 6 + is going to be a big jump from the 4. The speed, screen size, camera, etc. I would recommend getting a case as it does feel slippery if you keep it bare. The tricky part is do you go with a case that has a lip to protect the front glass? One of the coolest feature is how the front screen just rolls off to the sides.

[Ovation]

I don't plan to keep it bare, though it might take me a few days to find the right case. I really like the case I have now but I've seen nothing online that comes remotely close to its design. Looking forward to picking it up in a few hours.

[madmac]

Here's a link to a quick comparison between the Note 2 and Note 4.

So far the battery life is not living up to my expectations. I basically got about 10.5 hour of mixed use time. This is from about 6:30 am to about 5 pm, then I was down to 15%. At which time I turned on the ultra battery saving mode. And hardly used it during the next 5 yours. It dropped about 4% as I checked a couple of things.







The fast charging feature of the Note 4 really works well. I'm up to 77% from 8% in 44 minutes.

I hope after a week of use, I will see better standby.

Ovation - The 6 + is going to be a big jump from the 4. The speed, screen size, camera, etc. I would recommend getting a case as it does feel slippery if you keep it bare. The tricky part is do you go with a case that has a lip to protect the front glass? One of the coolest feature is how the front screen just rolls off to the sides.

Thanks for the info Paul. Wow, the difference in screen resolution is amazing with the Note 4....and also 8 core??!! Holy crap!!.....my quad core runs incredibly fast! My battery experience with my Note II is like all other big screen cell phones I've used in the past. With normal usage, it lasts me the day and must be plugged in every night. I keep the 'Power saving mode' activated at all times. Also, if you press and hold the big white button on the bottom, you can de-activate apps and programs that are running in the background for nothing, which I assume is sucking battery power for nothing. Also, I noticed that you are running 'Google maps' on yours which seems to be consuming a fair amount of battery power.

Also, the comparison chart shows that mine has an FM radio??........Really???........where is it located on the device?

[knowledgebass]

Also, the comparison chart shows that mine has an FM radio??........Really???........where is it located on the device?

Headphones with a microphone are required (typically) to provide the antenna. At least on the phones I've used.

[P-Dub]

Thanks for the info Paul. Wow, the difference in screen resolution is amazing with the Note 4....and also 8 core??!! Holy crap!!.....my quad core runs incredibly fast! My battery experience with my Note II is like all other big screen cell phones I've used in the past. With normal usage, it lasts me the day and must be plugged in every night. I keep the 'Power saving mode' activated at all times. Also, if you press and hold the big white button on the bottom, you can de-activate apps and programs that are running in the background for nothing, which I assume is sucking battery power for nothing. Also, I noticed that you are running 'Google maps' on yours which seems to be consuming a fair amount of battery power.

Also, the comparison chart shows that mine has an FM radio??........Really???........where is it located on the device?

Yeah, the screen is really a thing of beauty. I am very impressed with this more so than the 6+. It is probably due to how SuperAmoled works.

The speed is what I expect of a top of the line phone. Very snappy and no lag. I really notice the lag on my 2 year old Moto phone.

Initially I was hoping for slightly longer usage, but I haven't done any battery tuning with background apps, etc. I wanted to see performance if I had done no tweaking at all. I will continue to run it this way for the next week, then try the 'Power saving mode' to see what kind of improvement, then go into app specific stuff and location services, etc. The theory is if these devices are going to be brought into my ecosystem, I can not assume that and battery saving measures have been taken. So how long can I expect 1 full charge to last.

In my first test above, it wasn't so bad. Basically a work day with GPS/Maps usage, some tethering some gaming, etc. It is just at 5pm I'm down to the bone, well in my opinion, where I had expected a bit more than 25% remaining. The ultra battery saving mode is useful to have and did provide some extended time.

[P-Dub]

I don't plan to keep it bare, though it might take me a few days to find the right case. I really like the case I have now but I've seen nothing online that comes remotely close to its design. Looking forward to picking it up in a few hours.

Merry Christmas to you and your new device! Finding the right case can be tough. I think I've gone through a few on my 4s and also on my 5s. I've settled on the Spigen for now. It's a hard case with full cutouts at the top and bottom with a raised lip to protect the screen.

[Ovation]

Merry Christmas to you and your new device! Finding the right case can be tough. I think I've gone through a few on my 4s and also on my 5s. I've settled on the Spigen for now. It's a hard case with full cutouts at the top and bottom with a raised lip to protect the screen.

That's the case I got (Spigen with a kickstand thingie). In the midst of transferring info to the new phone right now (everything went well except for my music--seems I have start from scratch with that). Certainly a big difference with the iPhone 4. Will take some getting used to.

[Hdale85]

Spigen cases are awesome, I've gotten 4 of them now.

[Ovation]

After a day I've decided I'm going to keep it. It's nearly as user friendly as an iPad mini and still (just) fits in my pocket.

[Kevin P]

I've had my Moto G for well over a month now and I never posted about it here? Oh well, never too late I guess.

It's a good "first smartphone" for someone not wanting to blow a large wad of dough on a phone. Especially when you're like me and only use prepaid plans where phones are mostly unsubsidized. Well, the G is sort of subsidized on Verizon prepay. It's only around $60-70, I got mine on sale at Best Buy for under $60, and you have to keep it on prepay for 6 months before it can be moved to postpay plans.

The good: Nice 720p screen, good battery life, reasonably fast quad core CPU and graphics for the money, good call quality.
The bad: Camera quality, no 4G, only 8 GB storage, and no microSD card slot.

I have the 1st generation model which runs KitKat. Apparently the 2nd generation version offers Lollipop.

Once again, not something I'd recommend for the seasoned user but as a first smartphone for a light user it's a no brainer. For me it's fine. I don't use much data (and don't have much on Verizon anyway) so 3G is plenty. And although the camera is crappy compared to a Galaxy or iPhone it's still light years better than the VGA camera I had in my last phone. It is 5 megapixels w/flash and can record HD video.

[Face]

Any Galaxy S6 users here yet? Looking to upgrade from a Note 2 in June.

[Kevin P]

I just discovered that the no-contract Verizon Moto G which I paid around $55 for back in February is on sale now at Best Buy, for $24.99! 8O

Want a cheap prepay Verizon phone, now's the time!

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/verizon-wireless-prepaid-motorola-moto-g-no-contract-cell-phone-black/3041063.p?id=1219086346405&skuId=3041063

[P-Dub]

Any Galaxy S6 users here yet? Looking to upgrade from a Note 2 in June.

Not yet. Saw one at a booth but couldn't get much demo time. I hope to be able to take a closer look later next week. I'm not too sure if I would like the glass on the back. Also the major design change in dropping the SD card slot and going with a sealed battery is kind of a bummer.

Have you considered the Note4? I used it for a bit and quite liked it. I did not get a chance to fully test it out. The fingerprint reader was better than expected, but there was one issue that has put me right off, it forget my fingerprint. Apparently it is a known issue, luckily I could reset my password from Google. But since then I just used the patter lock.

I got a couple of S5's for work phones at a good contract price.

[Face]

I didn't really want to go any larger or I would consider the Note 4. The lack of a SD card and sealed battery are really disappointing.

[P-Dub]

I didn't really want to go any larger or I would consider the Note 4. The lack of a SD card and sealed battery are really disappointing.

Fair enough, I did find the Note 4 to be about as large a phone as I could personally handle. I've got smaller hands and at times it was a bit too big. There were some short cuts to reduce the screen size, but I didn't get to try those out as much.

Here's a link to a nice quick comparison between the S6, S5 and Note4.

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-Galaxy-S6-vs-Galaxy-S5-vs-Galaxy-Note-4-specs-comparison_id66618

Size wise on the chart it doesn't look too bad and the smaller bezels on the Note 4 make a difference.

I think the killer feature of the S6 is the quick access to the camera app. And the pictures it takes look pretty good.

I waited for the S6 announcement before committing to the older S5 for work. The battery and SD card was really the deal breaker. Plus as a work phone, the slight waterproofing of ip67 helps. The cost was only $50 on contract. I didn't know the price at the time but figured it would be starting in the $250 range.

Speaking of phones, here's an interesting speed test video comparing some new phones:
[youtube]hUw9PUlFUF0[/youtube]

[P-Dub]

I'm going to be in the market for a new phone in the next 3 months.

There are a lot of ones I'm considering, but it is basically boiling down to either going for a newer Android platform or going with the Apple route.

Over the course of the next few months I'll try to drop in and post my thoughts on the various contenders that I'm considering.

Apple is a pretty simple decision tree. 6+ or 6. There is really no sense in going with a 5s. I've had a 5s before and it is a really good phone and fits my hands well. I've used a 6 for a couple of months and it was still usable with one hand. The 6+ is the biggun. And for what I need, I may be leaning towards the larger screen. This is mainly so that I just have one device. I have an old iPad2 that I probably won't upgrade if I go with the 6+. Storage wise, I would probably stick with the 64GB version. But if I am consolidating devices I may spring for the 128GB.

The final piece is that the next version of the iPhones will most likely be announced in Sept, so not too far away. I'm looking at purchasing directly from Apple so I have an unlocked phone and I would use it with my current carrier plan. And of course the price. Boy these things add up. I'm looking at well C$1,099 for the 64GB 6+ before taxes, which add an extra 12% and I would probably spring for the AppleCare as that came in handy with my 5s.

On the Android side for an unlocked device, I'm looking at the Nexus 6 or the OnePlus1. There's a new OnePlus2 being announced at the end of the month as well as there should be another Nexus announcement later this summer as well.

[Hdale85]

The OnePlus 2 is coming out shortly, and features USB Type C, will be the first Type C phone. The launch event is later this month. I'm not upgrading until I can get a USB type C connector.

[P-Dub]

I really want to like Android, but so far my experience hasn't been that great. Granted my current Android phone is really old, 2.5+ years. But I did have a chance to use a Samsung S5 and a Note4. Granted these are Samsung devices and have the infamous Touchwiz skin, but I figured I would still be able to get a sense of the a base line performance.

At the end of the day I don't know if I could choose either of these two as a daily phone. I was planning to get a S5 and at the time I had a work iPhone 5s. That was the best of both worlds. But I no longer have a work phone so this next phone is going to be it. I may eventually have a new work phone but I don't want that to factor into my decision. I just need something that works for me.

The new S6 are nice, but I don't like the glass on the back and the loss of the removable back and external storage is a real bummer. Basically I'm ruling out Samsung as my next device.

The OnePlus 2 is looking like a really nicely spec'd device. My main concern is how will it handle the heat? This is actually a general question for all Android devices. I've noticed when the device gets hot performance drops. I know a friend's son has the OnePlus 1 and he basically says the same thing.

The HTC One's, LG G4 and the MotoX are also possibilities, but I would have to either sign a contract or purchase outright from a carrier and pay an unlock fee. I'd rather skip this step and just get an unlocked phone.

It will be an interesting summer.

[Hdale85]

I've never found the touch whiz interface to perform anything like real android. OnePlus and HTC have versions that are very close to stock and perform fantastic. Every Samsung device I've owned I've rooted and installed a more stock like android rom on.

As for heat? My HTC One M8 rare gets that hot, only when I'm playing hearthstone which works the cpu/gpu pretty hard. It's also in a pretty thick case that keeps it warmer than usual and for the most part I've 0 issues with heat and performance drops. That's not to say all phones won't. I don't know, I had an iPhone 3GS when they came out, it was my first smart phone. It worked well but by the end of my 2 years of ownership I was done with it and my next phone was Android. I've never looked back since granted I usually get an HTC flagship or close to flagship phone. My wife had a GS4 and it worked pretty decently as well. But again it had some lag issues due to samsungs stupid interface.

[Hdale85]

Oh I believe there is also a new HTC One coming out later this year that will have USB Type C as well. It should be the second phone with it (after the OnePlus 2).

[P-Dub]

Apparently the OnePlus 2 is going to be using just the USB Type-C connector and the interface is still USB 2.0 and not USB 3.0. Will see at launch.

There are so many +++ for the OnePlus 2.

Apparently there is a OTA fix for the OnePlus 1 touchscreen heat issue.

I think my Android experience is being heavily influenced with my current lackluster device and the not so great S5 and Note4.

The biggest thing that put me off on the Note4 was the fingerprint scanner forgetting my finger print. Then I had to reset via Google Account. This was a pain and apparently a known issue. The new S6 is supposed to be better and one of the best features on the iPhone is the touchID.

I'm going to have to visit some more dealers to play around with some phones.

[Hdale85]

Well not being USB 3.0 doesn't really matter imo, the connector is what I care about. How often do you transfer files over USB to your phone?

[P-Dub]

Am watching the 'live' VR launch of the OnePlus 2.

Using the app from the Google Play store seems to work the best, even without the cardboard VR headset. The Youtube stream doesn't work so well and the volume was really low.

The problem with this launch is the VR component. If you don't have the cardboard, then you have to hold your phone and then are moving around the horizontal plane as they are moving the focus of the speaker and the content presentation.

After a while, the VR gimik has gotten old about 10 min in.

The guests/winners are also involve in presenting the launch info and trying to do a more conversational approach.

I just want the data first then have the people touch on why it is so good. Good old feature/benefit presentation would be best.

Just added the price:

16GB - $329
64GB - $389

[Hdale85]

Hmm, not bad really. I knew it was going to be a bit more than the first one.

[P-Dub]

I recently paid a visit to the local Apple store and Samsung store. The iPhone 6+ is just huge, as much as I like the phone, I don't know if I can really use it daily. I bet I would get used to it after a while. The 6 fits nicely and I did have a chance to use it for a couple of months earlier this year.

The Samsung S6 is a bit smaller and actually fits pretty well and feels good all around. But the cost is pretty close to the iphones these days.

Now with the 1+2 announced, this phone has a lot of things going for it that I like, fast camera, fingerprint sensor, 4GB ram, dual sim tray. Some don't like that it doesn't have NFC, or wireless charging or running just 1080P, but those aren't things I really care about.

I'm number 337,878 out of 797,704 on the reservation list. Will see if I ever get an invite. Hmm, this is my 'shared' link, but looks like if people use it, it just bumps me up on the reserve list, but I don't think it helps the new person just signing up.

https://oneplus.net/invites?kolid=KICNIS

[P-Dub]

So the Apple event is on today/now.

First 20 minutes on the watch and the watch os.

Next up is the iPad Pro, commercial first. 12.9" screen running at 2,732 x 2,048 running the new A9X chip which runs 1.8X faster than the A8X.

The Mini4 is coming out which is the Air2 in a Mini body. Mini3 is gone and the Mini2 is the entry level.

At around minute 59 AppleTV is up.

1:30 later is when iPhone talk starts to happen. Standard iPhone intro.

Surprise it's the 6s and 6s Plus

Now with 3D Touch

12MP camera, 5MP front camera, 4K video
This Live photo thing could be interesting.

[Chris D]

I'll be buying an Apple TV.

[madmac]

Hey Paul, I'd be interested in your opinion on the Samsung Edge (6S I believe) if you have the chance to get your hands on one ??

[P-Dub]

I've not had any time on the new S6 Edge. I tried one at a store once. So take what I have to say with some appropriate seasoning.

The thing with the Edge is that extra bend on the screen is not really useful, in my opinion. Plus there is a bit of colour shift at the bend. I would much rather stick to a standard phone format. The plain S6 would do nicely.

However, I'm not a fan of the glass back. I just don't like Samsung's direction on the materials. The removal of the SD card and removable back is a negative.

Price wise, the Samsung phones will be less than the iPhones. The Note5 is looking attractive.

I am still leaning heavily towards getting a new iPhone, but now the cost just went up an extra $60. Here's the current prices in Cdn$ for an unlocked phone.

Size, 6s Plus, 6s
16GB $1,029, $899
64GB $1,159, $1,029
128GB, $1,289, 1,159

[madmac]

I've not had any time on the new S6 Edge. I tried one at a store once. So take what I have to say with some appropriate seasoning.

The thing with the Edge is that extra bend on the screen is not really useful, in my opinion. Plus there is a bit of colour shift at the bend. I would much rather stick to a standard phone format. The plain S6 would do nicely.

However, I'm not a fan of the glass back. I just don't like Samsung's direction on the materials. The removal of the SD card and removable back is a negative.

Price wise, the Samsung phones will be less than the iPhones. The Note5 is looking attractive.

I am still leaning heavily towards getting a new iPhone, but now the cost just went up an extra $60. Here's the current prices in Cdn$ for an unlocked phone.

Size, 6s Plus, 6s
16GB $1,029, $899
64GB $1,159, $1,029
128GB, $1,289, 1,159

Well.....it looks slick though !! However, with the curved screen I would be concerned about the ramifications of dropping it. Without an edged screen, it would immediately crack!! I'm right there with you about the lack of expandable memory and the lack of ability to open the back. However, all IPhones have been that way since their conception.

[aud19]

Looking at a new phone soon myself. The Samsung S6 seems to be the one to beat as far as Andriod phone's go (especially if you want a good camera). A bit disappointed in the lack of the mSD slot though. Be tough to fit all my music plus apps etc on 32GB...

Any input/advice on alternatives to look at Paul? I currently have a Sony Xperia Sp I've been largely happy (especially the battery :T) with but it's become pretty slow/flaky the last few months and I've never been terribly fond of the camera performance (same goes for newer Sony's apparently. That's particularly funny as Sony makes most of the lenses etc for Samsung etc phones that are far more well regarded for their camera performance.

[Hdale85]

Jason, the new HTC One is coming out soon (towards the end of the year I think) and it'll likely have Micro SD, and will have the new USB type C

[aud19]

I'll likely be getting something in the next month or so...so end of the year is probably out of the question. I also won't be getting anything bleeding edge as I'll get something free/cheap on a 2 year contract.

HTC's also don't tend to be as well reviewed for photos if I recall.