I left for the Moto G 2015. I came back.

[Furt]

Okay. I have some splaining to do. I got all caught up in the wave of Motorola news and when I saw that the Moto G 2015 was at best buy, I ran out without thinking and grabbed it. Threw my 640 in the closet and spent about 3 solid days using Google again after a few months on WP. I gotta say, its.... not great...

1. Android 5.1.1 might have a little box that says "Move app to SD card" in every app settings page, but when 99% of the apps I have can't actually be moved, 3.5GB of usable space becomes an actual problem. By the time I got OneNote, Office, Outlook, ect. installed and added one 300MB game. I was out of space... (side note: the guy at best buy actually said when I returned it "You should have gotten an SD card and put the apps on it." I was like "I did....")

2. Google Services feeds on battery life. Feeeeeeeeeeds on it. I was getting a very impressive 7 hours SOT over a day of use for the first day, then 5 hours the next. Then 4..... The more I actually used google apps, the more battery Google Services started creeping up in the percentage of battery use. I opted to turn off Google Now, Location, and disabling Google search. That worked for the most part, but rendered the phone pretty useless...

3. The camera is advertised as "The same sensor that in the Nexus 6" for some dumb reason I thought that meant it would be good. And on a clear Arizona day with plenty of light, Its great! Then again, what phone isn't? But at night, indoors, anywhere that isn't optimal lighting conditions, this thing is GARBAGE!!!! with the 640, I usually just reduce the shutter speed while resting the phone on something and get a pretty good shot at night, but the Moto G's default camera app has nothing of the sort. You can adjust exposure. That's it...

4. And this is the really tough one to judge, but its a real issue. Fragmentation. No, not the android kind, but the Specs kind. Best buy is selling the 8gb model with 1gb of ram. that's equal to what I have in the 640. its $179. I paid $80 for the 640. pretty big gap that I had to deal with, but I was told by a friend at work that the real one to get the 16gb/2gb version. its $219 at Motorola.com. I dont wanna.... I dont want to hunt down the real one. I got the one offered to me in person as I do with every phone I buy. the Lumia 640 is at Walmart right now. I didn't have to hunt it down to get a good one. they're all good. But when a Moto G at one place isnt as good as the Moto G at another, someone done goofed. That's just confusing and a rather big hassle for the consumer walking into the Best Buy/Walmart asking for a new phone.

TL;DR Its not that great.

With all the talk of WP being put out to pasture, I got a little antsy and ran off to Android, but if this is the norm for Android; different specs, prices, availability for a single device, I would rather stick with a dying OS than one that can't figure itself out at all.

 

[Zachary Boddy]

I enjoyed reading your story. Welcome back.
What color Lumia 640 do you have? Haha.

 

[Furt]

I enjoyed reading your story. Welcome back.
What color Lumia 640 do you have? Haha.

its matte black. I have bunch of cases so no sense getting other color backs.

 

[Zachary Boddy]

Ah I would've gotten cyan haha. The cyan color looks amazing.

 

[darkoman4]

I always fall for the same old trick with android. Every new phone is being advertised as having a great battery life, but the real world use is nowhere near what the specs say. And there goes, get an android every year just to find out over and over again that the phone loses its power up to 50% while idling over the period of 8 hours. Every other OS weather iOS, Windows or BB have somehow figured it out but not Google. I don't know, I think I am done with it. My 640 and my Q10 work great.

 

[rcloke91]

As a daily Android user, I understand the battery concerns.

I also understand that this is said about every major Android software update, but I truly beileve that M will finally fix a lot of the battery issues with Android. And the Moto G, being a Moto phone with no heavy skin or whatever, will get M pretty quickly. I'm personally very excited for it. I went from a OnePlus One to the new Moto G and I'm very much enjoying it, personally. Android M will also change how Android handles SD cards, becoming exactly like it's handled by Windows Phone now.

And yes, I own a Lumia 640, too.

 

[Zachary Boddy]

As a daily Android user, I understand the battery concerns.

I also understand that this is said about every major Android software update, but I truly beileve that M will finally fix a lot of the battery issues with Android. And the Moto G, being a Moto phone with no heavy skin or whatever, will get M pretty quickly. I'm personally very excited for it. I went from a OnePlus One to the new Moto G and I'm very much enjoying it, personally. Android M will also change how Android handles SD cards, becoming exactly like it's handled by Windows Phone now.

And yes, I own a Lumia 640, too.

If Android is changing the way they handle microSD cards, that's very good news.
However, Windows Phone doesn't do the best job of it either, to be honest.

 

[tgp]

However, Windows Phone doesn't do the best job of it either, to be honest.

Android's earlier versions that utilized the SD card more weren't that great either. I suspect that the issues are why Google reduced support. Hopefully they got it worked out.

I have to wonder why in this day and age any manufacturer releases a phone with 8GB internal storage. I know that it's marginally cheaper, and that every penny counts, but still... (I probably just answered my own question! :amaze

 

[fdalbor]

I used a Moto G lte for the past six months (as a secondary phone to my 820) and had about half my apps loaded to the SD card. After I got upgraded to Lollipop half the apps will not install to the SD card at all or puts half on the SD card and the other half on the phone memory. I lost a GB of memory. Bad thing is it will not let me go back to KitKat. I went and got a 640 and Microsoft has done a much better job using the SD card for storage. Like it is, having a SD card on a Android phone (at least with Lollipop) is a waste of time. Google has killed Android phones with only 8GB of space. I will never own another Android phone unless it has at least 16GB of phone memory. Microsoft has a good shot at picking up some sales vs the Moto G's. It works better (especially storage) and costs alot less.

 

[Zachary Boddy]

I used a Moto G lte for the past six months (as a secondary phone to my 820) and had about half my apps loaded to the SD card. After I got upgraded to Lollipop half the apps will not install to the SD card at all or puts half on the SD card and the other half on the phone memory. I lost a GB of memory. Bad thing is it will not let me go back to KitKat. I went and got a 640 and Microsoft has done a much better job using the SD card for storage. Like it is, having a SD card on a Android phone (at least with Lollipop) is a waste of time. Google has killed Android phones with only 8GB of space. I will never own another Android phone unless it has at least 16GB of phone memory. Microsoft has a good shot at picking up some sales vs the Moto G's. It works better (especially storage) and costs alot less.

The only issue is that although the Lumia 640 scored well with reviews (for a Windows Phone) we all know that the new Moto G will instantly get 9/10's and 10/10's from every side. I believe without a doubt the Lumia 640 is the better deal but...Windows Phone. Critics hate it for some reason. Not all of them, quite a few actually like it. But none of them actually...ya know...use a Windows Phone.

 

[Rose640]

All of my friends and cousins including my sister are Android users and I really can't se what are they attracted to. I have L640, which is pretty much low end device on paper, and whenever I show pics taken with my Lumia to my friends who owns S3, S4, HTCs... they're all astonished, like, they can't believe my low end 150? device beats their 500? flagship. And that's not the only thing WPs are superior to Android, only thing that WP is ' lacking' behind are apps (don't really know what are you all missing so much when you have almost everything you may need).
But what's the most important, at least what I think is the speed and that fluid feeling you get using Windows,I wouldn't change that for another 2 app stores.

 

[perpleSlerp]

With all the talk of WP being put out to pasture, I got a little antsy and ran off to Android, but if this is the norm for Android; different specs, prices, availability for a single device, I would rather stick with a dying OS than one that can't figure itself out at all.

Ummm, I hate to break this to you, but this is nothing new... at all. Most brand name phones come in (sometime many) different variants. The iPhone, The Zenfone, Samsung Galaxy phones, The Droid Maxx and Ultra, etc, and yes, even Windows phones.. i.e. 640/640XL are basically two variants of the same basic phone with slightly different specs.

 

[Furt]

As a daily Android user, I understand the battery concerns.

I also understand that this is said about every major Android software update, but I truly beileve that M will finally fix a lot of the battery issues with Android. And the Moto G, being a Moto phone with no heavy skin or whatever, will get M pretty quickly. I'm personally very excited for it. I went from a OnePlus One to the new Moto G and I'm very much enjoying it, personally. Android M will also change how Android handles SD cards, becoming exactly like it's handled by Windows Phone now.

And yes, I own a Lumia 640, too.

I just can't believe that anymore. I've been through that whole rodeo so many times now. Every major OS release starts with "battery life has been solved!!" Only to have it fall short on delivery.

 

[Furt]

Ummm, I hate to break this to you, but this is nothing new... at all. Most brand name phones come in (sometime many) different variants. The iPhone, The Zenfone, Samsung Galaxy phones, The Droid Maxx and Ultra, etc, and yes, even Windows phones.. i.e. 640/640XL are basically two variants of the same basic phone with slightly different specs.

Very few of those actually change the amount of RAM in each variant. So far only the Zenfone and Moto G make you pay for more RAM. With the iPhone and ask galaxy models only increase storage size.

 

[rcloke91]

I just can't believe that anymore. I've been through that whole rodeo so many times now. Every major OS release starts with "battery life has been solved!!" Only to have it fall short on delivery.

Hey, I get it, and I remain skeptical. If I still had my Nexus 9 I'd be running the Developer Preview on it, and all reports from the two releases of that preview are that it has been fantastic at managing idle battery. With a phone like the Moto G, which can get upwards of 7hrs sot, one might be able to get that AND incredible standby battery. I'm hopeful, but not sold until it happens.

 

[rcloke91]

The only issue is that although the Lumia 640 scored well with reviews (for a Windows Phone) we all know that the new Moto G will instantly get 9/10's and 10/10's from every side. I believe without a doubt the Lumia 640 is the better deal but...Windows Phone. Critics hate it for some reason. Not all of them, quite a few actually like it. But none of them actually...ya know...use a Windows Phone.

I think they're both fantastic phones, really. I own both. I own the OnePlus One. I have the Zenfone 2, and a Moto E. I think most of these devices are really quite good, which is a HUGE step forward from a few years ago when mid-range phones were total garbage.

 

[Kodiak12]

I can't dis Android because I've never used one. Right now I'm looking at my $80 Lumia 640 with 37% battery left after 40 hours of use.

Call me juvenile but I think I use the battery app more than anything else just to see my last charge measured in "days" and not hours. Heh, Heh. :wink:

 

[Furt]

Hey, I get it, and I remain skeptical. If I still had my Nexus 9 I'd be running the Developer Preview on it, and all reports from the two releases of that preview are that it has been fantastic at managing idle battery. With a phone like the Moto G, which can get upwards of 7hrs sot, one might be able to get that AND incredible standby battery. I'm hopeful, but not sold until it happens.

It'll really end up being Google's own services that make or break M's advertised battery improvements. I never have issues with any other installed apps and if Google gives more priority to their own services and let them run in the background like they do now, the battery drain will be there. I've been keeping a close eye on it and will be looking forward to how it ends up.

Oh! Great it's again same story.

We have lots thread like this
Left Samsung galaxy for that WP
Left iPhone for that WP
And etc...etc...etc....

there are of popular phones are coming Note 5, iPhone 6s, nexus ...
I am waiting when these phones thread.
By the Moto X play also launched.
Anyone planning to leave that too
Please share with us. We are very interested in your story. Although it same story again and again

I almost didn't post this just because there are so many of these same stories out there, but I did it more to give my opinions on the Moto G 2015 that hasn't been out long for those who were thinking of trying it out. Kind of a compare and contrast on others' opinion if they get it also.

I can't dis Android because I've never used one. Right now I'm looking at my $80 Lumia 640 with 37% battery left after 40 hours of use.

Call me juvenile but I think I use the battery app more than anything else just to see my last charge measured in "days" and not hours. Heh, Heh. :wink:

That ended up being a major reason I went back to the 640. the 7 hours of SOT from the Moto G was impressive for an Android phone, but not that uncommon since I get around that from the 640 that cost me $100 less.

 

[rcloke91]

It'll really end up being Google's own services that make or break M's advertised battery improvements. I never have issues with any other installed apps and if Google gives more priority to their own services and let them run in the background like they do now, the battery drain will be there. I've been keeping a close eye on it and will be looking forward to how it ends up.

In fairness, Google Play Services often (not always) gets seemingly high battery usage because third-party apps use things like Google Cloud Messaging for notifications. So while the blame is placed on Play Services, it's actually doing what it's supposed to do. More apps=more Play Services usage. Just the nature of the beast. That's not to say that there isn't tons of battery optimization that can be done, and it looks like, at least with standby battery usage, it'll improve. Again, hopeful, but absolutely skeptical.

 

[Furt]

In fairness, Google Play Services often gets seemingly high battery usage because third-party apps use things like Google Cloud Messaging for notifications. So while the blame is placed on Play Services, it's actually doing what it's supposed to do. More apps=more Play Services usage. Just the nature of the beast. That's not to say that there isn't tons of battery optimization that can be done, and it looks like, at least with standby battery usage, it'll improve. Again, hopeful, but absolutely skeptical.

I guess I was basing it more on my personal experience as I never use apps that tie into Google services. Location is off also removing any chance of Google location services or other apps that use it pulling down gps data and eating up battery.