Hello, Goodbye: Switching from Verizon ICON to Cricket Moto G

[Surmisation]

With Verizon?s increasingly aggressive ETF policies, now is a good a time as ever to test which network is good for the exit strategy when the contracts are up in late January. I signed up 5 lines of service on Cricket for $100 per month (including tax). Cricket now has several budget phones available. The Lumia 635 is free after rebate, but why settle for subpar? The Moto G LTE goes right now for a $25 after rebate.

SPECS
Both devices share identical processors, LTE radios, and basic 5 MP rear cameras. But the Moto G demolishes the Lumia in other categories. 720p vs 480p screen, 1.0 vs. 0.5 GB RAM, a notification light, a front facing camera, & expedient OS updates from Motorola make $26 an easy difference to spend. Even with the Snapdragon 400 processor on Android, I?m able to perform some tasks more quickly and efficiently than my current device, the high class Lumia ICON running the far-from-optimized Windows Phone 8.1 Preview. The ICON?s 20 MP with mechanical stabilization will be sorely missed.

NETWORK
Cricket?s network sucks like the depressurized vacuum of space. Good speeds register at 2 Mbps down and .5 Mbps up. Those are facts. Still, I am not the guy huddled in the corner, watching YouTube. 2/.5 Mbps is enough to pull emails. My house pulls 120 down, and about 30 up and that?s where I need the speed.

UNLOCKING & SWITCHING AGAIN
Another huge plus, factory unlock service for Motorola devices is fairly inexpensive at about $6 per phone. However, Cricket will unlock the phones for free after three months, about the time needed to maintain active lines in order for the $400 in rebates to clear. If the speed is still too slow, than switching carriers is simple as swapping a SIM card. Good analogy?

MICROSOFT's HARDWARE WOES
Bashing on Verizon is fun, but I?m still a Microsoft fan. Despite many crap decisions over the years, I?m confident they?ll be able to pull through. I still use Windows & Xbox One. My favorite game remains Halo multiplayer regardless of the ***** VP recently put in charge of 343 and the Halo franchise at large. Ultimately, Halo MCC?s unforgivable launch made me realize the detriments of supporting a company through the lens of childhood nostalgia. Windows is a great OS. Xbox is lots of fun. Office is par none. Yet the inability of the software giant to competently deliver modern hardware at a reasonable price point should not be supported, whether their AI is named Mickey Mouse, Cortana, or the White Ranger. It?s been nearly six years, and the standard resolution on laptops remains a sickening 768p.
Microsoft needs to get their HW partners on board or stop licensing Windows, and do it themselves. They took the wrong approach entirely. Phone market is replete with competitors including LG and Samsung. MS should have left this market alone and let the Korean screen tech giants compete. Traditional Windows devices are not the Korean?s bread and butter. MS needed and still needs to spin those turbines towards ensuring Full HD devices running Windows OS are released and reasonably priced. I?m unaware of how to mend the relationships with OEMs but they need to think of something and fast because 768p didn't suffice in 2009, and it certainly doesn?t cut it now. Windows OS is where Windows thrives.*

*Acceptable hardware required.

 

[link68759]

Until scaling on windows becomes functional, I wouldn't really rush into anything higher than 1080p. There are plenty of devices with that.



Higher resolution requires a more powerful CPU, which in turn negatively affects battery life. There is no inherent need for the average consumer to go beyond 720p, there are only downsides: price increases, less performance, and poor scaling. This especially true for mobile devices (scaling excluded) and it's quite literally a gimmick as there are genuine applications for high resolution PCs, but on a phone it just "looks nice" and nothing more.



If despite all that, you want higher resolutions on a laptop or phone, there are more than a few options for you to choose from.



I'm not sure what you're talking about with the "unforgivable launch" of halo, since I don't have an X1, but your "hardware woes" are quite short sighted.

 

[EBUK]

You will be sorely disappointed by the camera on the Moto G LTE.

I suspect Motorola prevents search engine indexing its forum pages because if you search for info about the camera, nothing from the Moto forums is returned. Just take a look here: https://forums.motorola.com/posts/e2f2722bfc

Really, the camera is terrible, regardless of the app you use. Had I known about it I would never have bought the phone. The non-removable battery I could forgive, but the camera? My 12 year old 2MP fixed focus digital camera produces better photo. Darn it, the VGA camera on an ancient el-cheapo Nokia candybar phone produces better photos!

Yes, the notification light is useful; an app named Do Not Disturb will give you quiet hours; you can even install a Windows Phone 8.1 style launcher if you like.

Of course, there is rumour that Motorola may release a fix with the forthcoming Lollipop upgrade, but who knows?

 

[Surmisation]

Haha. Yeah, the camera is worthless but I'm embarrassed to say, just about everything else is an improvement. That's in comparison to the ICON with a SD800 processor clocked at 2.2 GhZ & with 2 GB DDR3 RAM. Don't know if the ICON's ancient firmware has anything to do with it....

Another missed user control is the ability to remove carrier apps. However, I think these are eventually going to be non-removal, baked into Lumia devices as components within Extras & Info.

Alas, the camera will be the most missed feature.Yet, I was mainly using it for scanning receipts which can be done at the house. I can't say I'm decidedly finished with Windows, OS or phone, but I'd definitely need to see some major improvements (SW, HW, & FW) present in the next version in order to justify a return to the platform.

It's not good-bye. It's more like so long, and hopefully things are better next time we meet.

 

[fdalbor]

Got Moto g LTE to backup my 820. I love having both OS's and use both of them about the same though I still prefer the 820 and WP. But it is great to have both as one does some things better and the other some others. Pus the two together cost me less than one flagship phone. Its the way to go.

 

[Laura Knotek]

http://forums.windowscentral.com/ge...evice-including-windows-phones-post-here.html
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