Yet another phone thread

thegeek
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I did consider a Windows phone last time round - the interface is nice and slick and all, but I think I'm a bit too tied into the Google ecosystem, and there are a few apps I'd miss. I'd probably be a bit more likely to consider it if I used a Windows PC.
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BBC LDN
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Location: Richmond-upon-Thames

GaryMcEwan wrote:I've got the 8.1 Preview as well, Cortana isn't to bad. It even sings you a song if you ask it to. I'm looking at the OnePlus One device as my next purchase when they get released seeing as the specs within it are beyond good and at such a low price it would be mad not to get one...
Be very careful before going for the OnePlus One - unless you don't care about 4G.

The One doesn't support LTE Band 20 - which is what Vodafone and O2 (+ giffgaff, Tesco et.al) use in the UK, so you won't be able to get 4G to your shiny new OnePlus One if you're on those networks. Three also partially relies on Band 20, although it also uses Band 3, so if you're on Three, you will be able to get 4G but your signal probably won't be great.

If you're on EE, no problem - they use Bands 3 and 7 which are supported by the One.

As I say, if you're not fussed about 4G, then don't worry. If you are, take heed (and those in other parts of the world should also double-check that the One supports the 4G signal provided by their carriers).
Alexia
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GaryMcEwan wrote:There is a Google Play Moto G, however it's not available in the UK. I've had both the Nexus 4 and 5 and got bored with them after a while. Have you ever considered Windows Phone? I've recently made the switch to the Lumia 1520 and I thought I would hate it, but I'm glad I ditched Android and went to Windows Phone.

The Lumia 1320 is a great budget 4G 6" device which comes with Office Mobile and the usual Microsoft products...
Second time lucky......

Not interested even remotely in Windows Phone. I've had Nokias all my life and the quality has dropped considerably over the past couple of years. Neither the C3 or E5 shook my world. OK - Symbian, but still, the C3 just stopped working dead one day and the E5 keeps resetting itself, not being able to handle having a few apps open. As I said earlier, I use the Nexus 7 tablet and have found it to be a very comfortable user experience. Have previously said I would not ever have a touchscreen phone but it seems I may have to bite that particular bullet.

The 8GB expandable 4G Moto G is available from June 30th on Amazon, pre-orders on other sites too. No word yet from O² if they will be stocking it but seeing as they do the current version, I think they would be wise to do so.
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Sput
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thegeek wrote:
Alexia wrote:....Until I found out a 4G 8GB+microSD version is due to come out end of the month but for an extra 50 quid.

Anyone with any experience of Motorola and the Moto range?
No, but I am very interested to hear from those who have. I've had to change my last few phones because the OS has overtaken the hardware (either in terms of storage or performance), and they've become infuriating to use. My Nexus 4 is still doing fine on both those counts, but the battery life is beginning to get a bit useless. a 4G Moto (especially if there's a Google Play edition) would do me nicely.
Cooooeeeee

I've had a 16GB Moto G since December. I am happy. Battery is fine, but not amazing. Probably better than the HTC one it replaced in that respect. Mostly it's liberating having a decently performing phone with software that stays out of the way that, if you drop it, doesn't make your life flash before your eyes. Camera is fairly dull, but it takes pictures that look like what they're supposed to. I also approve of the screen size, which is big but not too big.
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GaryMcEwan
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BBC LDN wrote:
GaryMcEwan wrote:I've got the 8.1 Preview as well, Cortana isn't to bad. It even sings you a song if you ask it to. I'm looking at the OnePlus One device as my next purchase when they get released seeing as the specs within it are beyond good and at such a low price it would be mad not to get one...
Be very careful before going for the OnePlus One - unless you don't care about 4G.

The One doesn't support LTE Band 20 - which is what Vodafone and O2 (+ giffgaff, Tesco et.al) use in the UK, so you won't be able to get 4G to your shiny new OnePlus One if you're on those networks. Three also partially relies on Band 20, although it also uses Band 3, so if you're on Three, you will be able to get 4G but your signal probably won't be great.

If you're on EE, no problem - they use Bands 3 and 7 which are supported by the One.

As I say, if you're not fussed about 4G, then don't worry. If you are, take heed (and those in other parts of the world should also double-check that the One supports the 4G signal provided by their carriers).
My other half works for Three at Head Office in Glasgow, so I've got the pleasure of having a Home Signal box just in case of mast issues even though I have a mast right outside my front door.

Three also use band 20 for their 4G, but I've had it confirmed from handset team in Maidenhead that it would work but just to be careful. In all honestly I probably won't get, only because in case of support issues, I doubt I would get the help I need, although I don't need much help with all things mobile.

I just get bored with the current handsets that are out there at the minute so I'm looking for something different. I even considered the Huawei G6 4G as they seem to be getting quite a good name for themselves.
Gary McEwan over @ TVF
Alexia
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Well Ph*nes4U started selling the Moto G 4G on Thursday last, so I nipped along and snapped one up (in white, how 80s). Bargain. Android KitKat, zippy processor, excellent build, nice feel. Only physical qualm so far is the screen is slightly too big for my slightly stubby chubby pianist's fingers, so I'm going to have to get out of the habit of holding it one hand, using my thumb Blackberry/NokiaE5 style and start doing that two-handed holding and prodding thing the kids seem to all be doing nowadays.

Very quick to change between 2G/3G/3.5G and 4G (the Nokia used to take an AGE), and has a very good WIFI range, although I have had to prompt it once or twice to connect to available networks and my home network. Camera good (HD video capture), Motorola bloatware is minimal and non-intrusive, and if anything helpful. Only software gripe so far is that despite me telling it not to update apps over the air, it did today and took a massive chunk out of my data. (Still on my 500MB bolt on from my last phone until my next PAYG anniversary date in July). So now I've had to set the updates to non-automatic, which is annoying but not end-of-the-worldy.

EDIT - Forget Giffgaff guff. Their unlimited data SIM is for 3G only, not 4G. They do do a £12 4G 2GB SIM, but that's not enough for me to swap just yet.
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Ebeneezer Scrooge
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Alexia wrote:... has a very good WIFI range, although I have had to prompt it once or twice to connect to available networks and my home network.
I think this is a feature of some commonly used WiFi hardware in most phones now - they seem to want to cling onto a particularly bad hotspot for as long as possible rather than jump across to a known good one.
I looked into it a while back when I added a second access point in my house - gave it the same SSID etc so switching between networks should be pretty seamless, but rather than jump between the best networks, our phones stick on one until it is completely out of range.
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thegeek
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Alexia wrote:Only software gripe so far is that despite me telling it not to update apps over the air, it did today and took a massive chunk out of my data. (Still on my 500MB bolt on from my last phone until my next PAYG anniversary date in July). So now I've had to set the updates to non-automatic, which is annoying but not end-of-the-worldy.
Even having read this post before my handset arrived from Amazon today, I've just had exactly the same thing happen to me.

I think what happens is this:
  • as part of the standard Android setup process, once I'd logged in, it started installing all the apps currently installed on my other devices.
  • the Moto G launches Motorola Migration Assistant, and prompts you to run it on your old phone. This sets up a direct WiFi connection between the two handsets
  • the Play Store then merrily continues installing the rest of your apps over the cellular network while your phone's no longer connected to the internet via WiFi
I left it to do its thing, and now have a 500MB dent in my data allowance for the month. Oops.
thegeek
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Joined: Sat 04 Jun, 2005 12.35

Oh, and it may not have been bothering you that much if you're on O2, but there is an option to remove the network operator name from the status bar:

Image
Alexia
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Joined: Sat 01 Oct, 2005 17.50

Yep I done that.

As for Migrate, I doubt it would have worked on my antiquated Nokia Symbian S60 E5... Ovi Suite really was the worst piece of crud I've ever installed ( and that includes m:trip ). So I just did it the hard way... Created all my contacts anew on the new phone, deleted all my SMSs and saved all my pics and vids to the microSD card. It killed an evening....
Critique
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Amazon now sells phone contracts through its website, in a new thing. From the looks of it they only offer O2 contracts, which could be related to how their own Fire Phone is exclusively on O2 (which incidentially appears to have been an expensive failure, with some pretty poor reviews). They offer the relatively new HTC One M8 with no up-front cost, just £28 a month for 1GB data and unlimited minutes - it looks like they have a free phone tariff on every phone they sell on contract, but what you get does tend to vary, with the Galaxy S5 still only £28 a month, but for 500 minutes, unlimited texts and a paltry 500mb of data.

They make it quite clear that the price of the contract will go up (or down, like that will ever happen), with a little disclaimer about the Retail Price index below the price - I know networks make it more clear than they used to about price increases, but before they first put prices up was it something they went to the effort to draw attention to, or was it just buried in the terms and conditions.

Whilst I guess it's convenient and everything, it does feel like Amazon taking another step to having a monopoly on buying things online - and if other networks join in (assuming it's not an exclusive deal with O2, I can't imagine Carphone Warehouse will be best pleased!
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