How do we not have an Android phone thread yet?

[SportWagon]

A refurbished Motorola Atrix I bought a few weeks ago to use as a hopefully more reliable GPS device does seem to work well for such, no SIM card.

. . .

But this weekend the Samsung Galaxy S4 recorded both 40km Saturday and 60km Sunday in the Strava app alright. I used https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...hibo.gpsstatus to make sure "Xtra data" was downloaded, and also started https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...dhak.gpslogger simultaneously.

. . .

But it's not clear to me that accidentally touching anything would cause the entire GPS service to apparently stop. (No apps seemed to be able to see any satellites until a hard reset of the device).

Later I bought another refurbished Atrix, and it wouldn't do anything until a SIM card (didn't seem to mind that it didn't have service) was inserted. At that point I was able to postpone "Motoblur" setup and install a bunch of apps. It wasn't the SIM I eventually plan to use, so we'll see whether I run into problems because of it.

But as to the Galaxy S4, I had applied the Kit Kat upgrade after purchase, and a couple of weeks ago an almost mandatory update to that came along. (Best you could do to delay was say "remind me in three hours"). And since applying that I've been 6 for 6 in success recording rides via GPS using the Strava app on that phone. Most of those six I also recorded on that with GPS Logger, though I forgot once. And I've been carrying the Atrix as a backup and recording with GPS logger there too. But that is a little tedious, and I'd like to reduce ride start overhead and back pocket bulk. And recording with GPS Logger on the same device as well as Strava only has the advantage that I get a first-hand GPS record; it was always the case that GPS failure affected it as well as Strava. (Though the backup Atrix did rescue a record of my ride at least once).

[Godson]

Anyone know what the difference on the C6603 and C6602 Sony experia Z is?


I have looked over the infor and can't see the difference.




I found it. c6603 is newer and supports 4g. That settles it, I have found my atrix replacement

[Godson]

and for another 60$ I can get the Z1S.



hmmm

[21Kid]

Just discovered Google Camera. (I'm probably behind the times, I know...) But, it has some neat options that the default camera on my Moto X doesn't, like camera-sphere and lens blur. Took a couple of photos with it and it's pretty neat. However it says that there's an HDR feature, which I can't seem to find in the options.

[Kchrpm]

It's the default camera on Nexus devices, so try to find a tutorial or something for the Nexus 4 or 5 (GNX's didn't get all the updates, I don't remember if it has it).

[21Kid]

https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/2838995?hl=en

High Dynamic Range-Puts the camera in HDR mode, which captures greater detail in bright or dark areas of a photo. (This setting isn’t available on all devices.) Seems odd that it isn't available on my phone, since the default Moto X camera has it.


I looked. Theres supposed to be a HDR symbol, which isn't in the settings on my phone...
Hopefully they update it soon.

[Godson]

Soooo . I broke not only the digitizer in my cell, but the LCD also. Do I spend another 20$ on a new lcd with the intention of replacing the phone in 3-4 months, or just use the loaner for another month and replace it with the exact same phone I am going to buy in 3-4 months....

[TheBenior]

Atrix 1 or 2? If 2, they still go for $50+ on eBay, which would make fixing the screen for $20 worth it.

[Godson]

Atrix HD


And I may have messed up more than just the LCD. I can't tell. I am currently borrowing a Galaxy SII from a friend, so it is not like I am out a smart phone right now. I might just wait it out.

[Blerpa]

My Galaxy S2 started to suddenly overheat while I was at work (I'm a courier and I spend much time driving on a van) and died out for a bit. Since I need a phone, and I can't afford a top tier phone right now, I barged in a big electronic shop during a pause between shifts and got a simple black 8GB Moto G. It's the base model (unfortunately there's not a single shop in town selling either the 16GB version or the new 8GB LTE version with MicroSD) but since I was strapped for cash I was left with just buying this or some cheap Huawei phones (the Huawei G630 would have been a very decent alternative but not yet in shops in my hometown), best bang for my bucks.

I've used the Moto G since the 11th of this month, and after 8 days I can say I'm pretty satisfied with the little rascal.

PROS

1) Display. The 4.5" 720p display is just stunning. It puts to shame some of the displays of my friends' big bucks phones of last year or before (Galaxy S3, iPhones, etc.). Very bright too. Beats the 800x480 4.3" display on the Galaxy S2 by large (understandable, the S2 is a 2011 device)

2) Not too big, comfy to keep in one hand, simple to use (only power button and volume rocker).

3) Audio is STELLAR. Very decent call audio. Very good audio from the rear external speaker. STELLAR audio from ear/headphones... to the point I've had to lower the volume when using headphones. I've read in reviews it rivals audio quality from top devices. Awesome.

4) FAST. It may have only 1GB of RAM (like the S2 has) but the quadcore 1.2 Snapdragon 400 is... snappy. Never a lag, never a fuss about. Outstanding so far. Same for the Adreno 305: I don't game on mobile, but tried out GT Racing 2 and Asphalt 8 - no lags.

5) Battery. It is a 2070mAh non-removable one. I do not like non-removable batteries on phones, but this is an emergency buy, so I had to give in; yet, it lasts decently for my quite extreme uses (I've an average of 60 to 70% of display use which really hits on battery duration and also I may have a 20 to 40% of Call time, which is also a battery killer), and I've been able to use it without charging for a whole 4 to 6 hours work shift with ease and still some juice left.
Also it keeps working like a champ even under 30% of battery left (not that it is recommended to let battery get that low before charging it again, but nonetheless).
It is not the Galaxy Note 3 or Xperia Z2 battery duration that I dream of, but for a device costing less than a third of those phones I'd say it is great.
[GSMArena battery test puts the Moto G at 54h of battery duration, against 40h of my old S2, 40h of the overrated Nexus 5 - gladly I had continous doubts about splashing money on a Nexus - and measly 30h for the abysmal Nexus 4]

6) Still... battery related, the phone is really quick to charge. Either from a normal AC charger or a car one. I've used my Galaxy Tab 2A charger for it with no trouble: Motorola recommends to use a charger between 1A and 1.5A but if you use a bigger amperage charger is no trouble, since Motorola states the device filters it and gets its nominal max 1.5A charge. Very good, very quick to load. Almost on the verge of being amazing.

7) GPS locks quite quickly and painlessly. A totally different story than on my Galaxy S2. Very good.

8) Motorola did a great job to not fill the device of unnecessary apps and stuff: Aside from GApps (half of which I deactivated), AOSP stock android keyboard and HP Print Service plugin, Motorola did put its own Migrate app (which I deactivated, no use as all my contacts are already backed up in Google) and Assist which I'm using to silence the phone and block calls and texts - aside from my favourite list - when I sleep between working shifts. It managed to replace Samsung own outstanding Blocking Mode (still the best I've ever used) with little trouble, thankfully.

9) Not even the time I got the phone out of the box and already 2 firmware updates were available. Updated to latest 4.4.2 KitKat firmware and now waiting for the staged rollout of 4.4.4 to hit it in these days. Feels like I may quietly look forward to have Android L (5.0) on this phone in the not so far future.

10) Hey, funky coloured back shells! I've to look around Amazon to get myself a cyan or lime, or even fiery red, back shell for fun! It's not the MotoMaker madness you get with the MotoX but in a sense it's even easier, just buy the back shell you want and replace it! Reminds me of old Nokias with replaceable and custom-made back covers.

11) Notification LED. Sweet. It can only light itself up in white colour, but nice nonetheless. The S2 didn't have one at all, at it is a small but pretty nice feature.

Continues in next post...