WC 1M Post Challenge - You Ready?!

[libra89]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

So it's decided...the 10 is in the shop getting converted from glacial silver to camellia red. It will get a new screen and battery to go with the new housing.

My repair of many years cracks me up:

Repair Guy: So, here's the estimate for the repairs. You sure you want to do this?
MIA: Yup.
Repair Guy: I dunno. This is a 2016 phone. What about the OG Pixel?
MIA: Yes, and it's the last HTC model the way I like it (aluminum). No to the Pixel, been there, done that with the Pixel 2.
Repair Guy: hey! This is great in hand feel! Reminds me of a bar of soap! (continues to do the in hand feel test).
MIA (smiles): THAT's why I want you to fix it.

Yup, that in a nutshell summarizes current HTC. Still good work, but cast aside due to their own decision making fails.

Ooh that's exciting!

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

There are times I miss when how phone friendly T-Mobile is for unlocked phones that aren't iPhones.

I just learned that by going with the S10e, I will have to give up all of the carrier features (the biggest one being VoLTE/HD Voice). Stupid. If I really like the S10e, I think I'll check out plans and compare.

T-MO has gotten too bourgeoisie for my tastes. Still, I don't see a compelling reason to switch in terms of coverage for my current needs. If I do, I'll get a Xioami Mi Mix phone and go forth.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

Ooh that's exciting!

It is and it isn't. He's been in business for 15 years, I've been going to him for the past 7. He does good work and has taken all my crazy projects. He's quite knowledgeable too. Last time I saw him he was using a Oneplus 3T as his daily driver (My Mi Note 2 was the daily driver at that time).

I'll post pictures when it's done. I have to S-Off it because it is the T-mobile variant that never got an update. Once I take it to 8.0, it should be good.

 

[libra89]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

It is and it isn't. He's been in business for 15 years, I've been going to him for the past 7. He does good work and has taken all my crazy projects. He's quite knowledgeable too. Last time I saw him he was using a Oneplus 3T as his daily driver (My Mi Note 2 was the daily driver at that time).

I'll post pictures when it's done. I have to S-Off it because it is the T-mobile variant that never got an update. Once I take it to 8.0, it should be good.

Wow, that's a long time! I'll be looking forward to seeing it. 8.0 sounds like a good sweet spot for it since that's recent.

 

[libra89]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

T-MO has gotten too bourgeoisie for my tastes. Still, I don't see a compelling reason to switch in terms of coverage for my current needs. If I do, I'll get a Xioami Mi Mix phone and go forth.

I believe it for you on both points.

This realization didn't hit me as hard before because iPhones just work and accept the features. T-Mo has weaker coverage at work and in random spots. I have noticed the slight difference with cricket/At&t in the time I have switched. However, there was a band that T-Mo added (between that time and now) and I wonder if that will make a difference in the network I experience (at the moment, it doesn't look like it).
I'm going down the research hole since the S10e is the closest to what I want (and prefer) in a phone since the SE...

Edit: I do see the option to possibly get an AT&T one but I have to find out how that experience is (and if it would be worth the exchange). Hopefully Reddit can tell me. Eh. I think I will switch. I have said this over and over but it really depends on the S10e experience.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

I think I've decided that I want phones from 2015-2019.

That would be a 950 XL, HTC 10, Pixel 2/Andy's phone, some LG model and a Nokia 9. If I wanted to be fancy, outside of the HTC 10, I would have gotten a phone from 2015-2019 with built in wireless charging.

We will see if a really do this or not. Just spit balling right now.

 

[libra89]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

I think I've decided that I want phones from 2015-2019.

That would be a 950 XL, HTC 10, Pixel 2/Andy's phone, some LG model and a Nokia 9. If I wanted to be fancy, outside of the HTC 10, I would have gotten a phone from 2015-2019 with built in wireless charging.

We will see if a really do this or not. Just spit balling right now.

Ooh this sounds like a fun mix. You already have some of those too.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

Ooh this sounds like a fun mix. You already have some of those too.

Yup. We will see what happens. Still just thinking out loud.

 

[libra89]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

It's looking like battery life with the s10e might be lesser than the X I currently have, which is a no for me. It's known how I feel about this lol. In my experience, the X is sufficient for me. it meets a personally required minimum amount of hours before it needs to be charged unless I decide to play a game for hours.

 

[fatclue_98]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

I think I've decided that I want phones from 2015-2019.

That would be a 950 XL, HTC 10, Pixel 2/Andy's phone, some LG model and a Nokia 9. If I wanted to be fancy, outside of the HTC 10, I would have gotten a phone from 2015-2019 with built in wireless charging.

We will see if a really do this or not. Just spit balling right now.

Funny you should mention that. While looking for something else I found a pair of phones I didn't even know I had, a Moto Nexus 6 and a first gen Pixel XL. After charging them I fired them up and let them go through their respective updates. The Moto is still stuck on Nougat with an October 2017 security patch and the Pixel went all Pie and February 2019 security. Doing side by side comparos can be fun sometimes because it shows how far chipsets and RAM have come in a short period of time. The Nexus 6 has a 28nm SD805 with 3 gigs of Ram while the Pixel is on a 14 nm SD821 and 4 gigs of RAM. The Pixel should run circles around the Moto right? Hell to the f*****g no! With the exception of YouTube, every GAPPS app opened quicker on the Moto. Facebook was a dog though and not by a little either. T-Mobile reception was spotty on the Moto so that immediately put the kibosh on any wild fascinations I may have been considering. But it was an eye-opening experiment nonetheless.

 

[libra89]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

It's looking like battery life with the s10e might be lesser than the X I currently have, which is a no for me. It's known how I feel about this lol. In my experience, the X is sufficient for me. it meets a personally required minimum amount of hours before it needs to be charged unless I decide to play a game for hours.

I did my research with different sources, and apparently even though the S10e has a bigger battery over the S9, the s9 has at least an hour more of battery life. With One UI pushing elements near the bottom, it might work out better for me to deal with the edges I dislike so much. Decisions, decisions...

I'm torn between using time to try it out anyway and be possibly disappointed or just use the S9 with GCam + One UI (really got this S9 at a low price) or just stay on the X and use neither (i.e. get rid of both).

MFA is a hassle and required for school so I'm not about to go through changing devices for a phone I'm not sure about and then deal with changing it back again.

Edit: Speaking of One UI, for some, it is considered wasted space. For me, it appears to be a possible game changer because less straining to reach the top is ideal.

 

[libra89]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

Funny you should mention that. While looking for something else I found a pair of phones I didn't even know I had, a Moto Nexus 6 and a first gen Pixel XL. After charging them I fired them up and let them go through their respective updates. The Moto is still stuck on Nougat with an October 2017 security patch and the Pixel went all Pie and February 2019 security. Doing side by side comparos can be fun sometimes because it shows how far chipsets and RAM have come in a short period of time. The Nexus 6 has a 28nm SD805 with 3 gigs of Ram while the Pixel is on a 14 nm SD821 and 4 gigs of RAM. The Pixel should run circles around the Moto right? Hell to the f*****g no! With the exception of YouTube, every GAPPS app opened quicker on the Moto. Facebook was a dog though and not by a little either. T-Mobile reception was spotty on the Moto so that immediately put the kibosh on any wild fascinations I may have been considering. But it was an eye-opening experiment nonetheless.

Hm, this sounds like it was interesting to see in action. Will you do anything with the Pixel XL or does it go back in the storage bin?

 

[fatclue_98]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

Hm, this sounds like it was interesting to see in action. Will you do anything with the Pixel XL or does it go back in the storage bin?

That's the 64 thousand dollar question. Battery life ain't the greatest so it'll be a conversation with my pillow while I ponder its fate.

 

[libra89]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

That's the 64 thousand dollar question. Battery life ain't the greatest so it'll be a conversation with my pillow while I ponder its fate.

Gotcha. I wish you good luck with your decision, as I understand how you feel about battery life.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

Funny you should mention that. While looking for something else I found a pair of phones I didn't even know I had, a Moto Nexus 6 and a first gen Pixel XL. After charging them I fired them up and let them go through their respective updates. The Moto is still stuck on Nougat with an October 2017 security patch and the Pixel went all Pie and February 2019 security. Doing side by side comparos can be fun sometimes because it shows how far chipsets and RAM have come in a short period of time. The Nexus 6 has a 28nm SD805 with 3 gigs of Ram while the Pixel is on a 14 nm SD821 and 4 gigs of RAM. The Pixel should run circles around the Moto right? Hell to the f*****g no! With the exception of YouTube, every GAPPS app opened quicker on the Moto. Facebook was a dog though and not by a little either. T-Mobile reception was spotty on the Moto so that immediately put the kibosh on any wild fascinations I may have been considering. But it was an eye-opening experiment nonetheless.

My personal opinion is that after the SD 800/805, everything annually has been an incremental improvement, including the train wreck that was the SD 808 + SD 810. I mark that as the point where Android devices got sophisticated enough on a hardware level where a longer arc of OS support could be done.

My personal opinion says that this is where business model kicks in and stated that OEMs, Google and Qualcomm decided to keep Android hardware driven and leave the vague 18-24 month software support to move units. Apple's business model was that we will keep you in the garden with longer hardware support via software. The caveat is while you can choose to keep your older device, and will we support it as it is a vechile to the true hooks of the apps, it's still better if you upgraded bi-annually at worst/annually at preferred.

Still seems like capitalism at its finest/most frustrating to me.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

I liked this video. It just reminded me of the stuff I dislike in the industry now.

I respect Apple, Samsung, and Google for catering to people who want a device that "just works", especially in the camera department (aka, great Auto mode). The numbers seemingly show that there are less people who dive into manual modes in the phones (or else Google wouldn't have flat out ignored it on a Pixel). Because of that perspective, there is little room for phones from an LG, etc which require you to be a bit creative with what is offered.

I get it. This is still a business at the end of the day. They are here to compete for the dollars in your pocket. I just feel that the narrative has gotten so narrow that everyone looks alike now that it is going to be harder to innovate in a saturated market. I'm not saying that LG shouldn't do better in their auto mode, - they really should. I took some low light shots last night and G cam was better point and shoot than the standard camera app. Yet, when I pull up the video of the performance I shot on the standard app a few weeks ago, the first thing that stands out is the audio. I can tweak the look of the video itself post production, I cannot fix bad audio as easily. The longer I use the G7, the more I appreciate the case they were making. I tested out the boombox feature properly last night and it was neat. How often I would use it isn't much, still it was nice to have. Was the case made well? Not as well as it could have been.

I'm sure the S10 will do just fine, along with whatever Apple puts out this year. It's just that on a personal level, not having the wider gamut of choices doesn't help. Being forced to use whatever everyone else wants is just unfortunate.

https://youtu.be/86T9a5PAqQQ

 

[libra89]

WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

I liked this video. It just reminded me of the stuff I dislike in the industry now.

I respect Apple, Samsung, and Google for catering to people who want a device that "just works", especially in the camera department (aka, great Auto mode). The numbers seemingly show that there are less people who dive into manual modes in the phones (or else Google wouldn't have flat out ignored it on a Pixel). Because of that perspective, there is little room for phones from an LG, etc which require you to be a bit creative with what is offered.

I get it. This is still a business at the end of the day. They are here to compete for the dollars in your pocket. I just feel that the narrative has gotten so narrow that everyone looks alike now that it is going to be harder to innovate in a saturated market. I'm not saying that LG shouldn't do better in their auto mode, - they really should. I took some low light shots last night and G cam was better point and shoot than the standard camera app. Yet, when I pull up the video of the performance I shot on the standard app a few weeks ago, the first thing that stands out is the audio. I can tweak the look of the video itself post production, I cannot fix bad audio as easily. The longer I use the G7, the more I appreciate the case they were making. I tested out the boombox feature properly last night and it was neat. How often I would use it isn't much, still it was nice to have. Was the case made well? Not as well as it could have been.

I'm sure the S10 will do just fine, along with whatever Apple puts out this year. It's just that on a personal level, not having the wider gamut of choices doesn't help. Being forced to use whatever everyone else wants is just unfortunate.

https://youtu.be/86T9a5PAqQQ

Great points. Your statement of people just wanting a device and the OEMs going with that, made me think of something I heard from someone who I can't name. They said that everyone has an iPhone or a Samsung, which is boring so they like having a Pixel. In their case, Pixel 2.

I agree about the video. It was nicely done.

 

[libra89]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

Currently procrastinating so I will ramble.

So the S10E is arriving for me and I have mixed feelings. On one hand, the size will be really nice to have.

On the other, the front camera quality is possibly too much. I played with the s9 and I got to see what all of these people meant with the beauty mode.

I think I will try the camera without setting up and see how that looks before deciding anything else. We'll see.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

Great points. Your statement of people just wanting a device and the OEMs going with that, made me think of something I heard from someone who I can't name. They said that everyone has an iPhone or a Samsung, which is boring so they like having a Pixel. In their case, Pixel 2.

I agree about the video. It was nicely done.

I've never been one to follow the crowd. I also am interested in manual camera controls and hifi, which is why I'm using an LG device. I'm one of the outliers, like MIA.

 

[libra89]

Re: WC 150K Post Challenge - You Ready?!

I've never been one to follow the crowd. I also am interested in manual camera controls and hifi, which is why I'm using an LG device. I'm one of the outliers, like MIA.

I agree, you really are one, which is very cool.