Smartphones

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Soriak_sl

shitlord
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Noodleface_sl said:
What's the consensus on the Nexus 4's amongst all of these new phones?
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It's not available in the Play Store anymore. I suspect they're about to release the successor.

For what it's worth, I love my N4. I wish they had included LTE given that Sprint is building it out now. But hey, I'll probably replace it again in a year or two. For now, I don't really need the faster speed; 4G does it for me.
 
Denamian

Denamian

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The nexus 4 is still a great phone, I'm very happy with mine. The main complaints people have are that the battery life is on the mediocre side, it runs a bit warm and is a bit fragile due to being glass on both sides. Battery life can be improved with custom roms and kernels and depending on how much you use it may not be an issue. I have no problem on mine unless I decided to do a few hours of Ingress. As far as heat goes, it can heat up enough to the point that it starts throttling itself, but that can be adjusted as well. The glass back is a fingerprint magnet if you care about that and makes the phone somewhat slippery. I use the official bumper (the poetic bumper fell apart after a month and its replacement lasted 3) and have had no problems as far as damage goes. Neither side has any scratches in the glass.

The best part is that if you plan on holding on to the phone for a while is that you'll always get updates to android. Most manufacturers seem to stop updating phones after a year or so, so it's nice to know you'll keep getting updates.

I would wait for the N5 announcement though, unless you've got a good deal on a N4 right now.
 
Deathwing

Deathwing

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Soriak_sl said:
It's not available in the Play Store anymore. I suspect they're about to release the successor.

For what it's worth, I love my N4. I wish they had included LTE given that Sprint is building it out now. But hey, I'll probably replace it again in a year or two. For now, I don't really need the faster speed; 4G does it for me.
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Are you sure you're the nexus 4 on sprint? It doesn't have cdma nor wimax radios.
 
Neki

Neki

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BBC Technology News - Apple Touch ID fingerprint tech 'broken', hackers say

Hackers claim to have broken Apple's iPhone 5S Touch ID fingerprint recognition system just a day after the phone was launched.

Germany's Chaos Computer Club claims it "successfully bypassed the biometric security of Apple's Touch ID using easy everyday means".

By photographing a fingerprint left on a glass surface and creating a fake finger they were able to unlock the phone, the hackers claim.

But Apple maintains Touch ID is secure.

On its website the iPhone maker says there is a one in 50,000 chance of two separate fingerprints being alike and the technology provides "a very high level of security".

Karsten Nohl, chief scientist at SRLabs, a German hacking think tank, told the BBC: "It would have been incredible if Apple had managed to do something the rest of the biometrics industry has failed to achieve after decades of trying, so I'm not surprised it was hacked after just one day.

"Claiming this system offers a high level of security is just ridiculous," he added.
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Noodleface

Noodleface

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I was just looking for an overall review of the N4 against current other phones. I plan on looking into the N5, but wanted to know if it was worth it. The price really drew me towards the N4, but planning to wait for the successor.

I'm on Verizon FWIW.
 
Joeboo

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The N4 was a great phone at the time it came out. Technologically, it's probably in-between the Samsung S3 and S4. I fully expect the N5 to now leapfrog the HTC One and S4.

It seems like Samsung and HTC are happy going head to head with phone releases each Spring, and then Google is going to one-up them 6 months later, leaving them with the state of the art Android phone until the S5 and HTC One successors come out.
 
Eomer

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I quite like my Nexus 4 as well. I'm not really a power user with it, so I haven't had any big concerns with battery life. Generally I unplug it at 6:30am and by 11pm it's still above or near 50% battery left, however that's fairly moderate usage during the day (checking emails, texts, occasional web browsing, some phone calls). I've definitely noticed the heat a couple times, it does run warm.
 
opiate82

opiate82

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Noodleface_sl said:
I was just looking for an overall review of the N4 against current other phones. I plan on looking into the N5, but wanted to know if it was worth it. The price really drew me towards the N4, but planning to wait for the successor.

I'm on Verizon FWIW.
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FWIW The N4 isn't compatible with Verizon's network. I would wager a guess that the N5 won't either (but we will see). You may want to have a back-up plan if you plan on sticking with Verizon.

Also I am pretty sure that I read they aren't producing any more N4's.
 
Deathwing

Deathwing

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Google hates CDMA phones. Whether it's because VZW and Sprint are the only two carriers that use CDMA in whole world, or that VZW is a bitch, idk. You're much better off finding a different phone if you want to stay on VZW. Or find that magic unicorn phone Soriak procured.


I'd love to be able to pay less for my cell phone too. Whether it's monthly fees or the actual phone, the whole industry stinks of ridiculous profit margins. Unfortunately, just about every alternative is rife with their own problems.
 
Noodleface

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I actually hate VZW and plan to get off it once my contract expires. Nothing but shitty customer service from them.
 
Alkorin

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For anyone who's thinking of switching to WIND in Canada, check this 6 month starter giveaway package out:http://ptab.it/1mCI8

I switched to them a while ago with an AWS iPhone 5, just bought a 5s (I'll give the 5 to my wife) and I'm sticking with them. Sure, roaming boundaries are a bit wonky in Ottawa, but it hasn't affected me much as I have wi-fi pretty much everywhere that's outside a WIND zone.
 
Deathwing

Deathwing

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Noodleface_sl said:
I actually hate VZW and plan to get off it once my contract expires. Nothing but shitty customer service from them.
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Yeah, every time I consider switching off VZW, I'm reminded of the time my wife and I were stranded in bumfuck Vermont(which is 99.9% of Vermont) because her engine decided to eat its timing belt. Cell reception was spotty at best and the company I work for now decided that exact moment to call me up and extend an offer. Would have been stuck walking miles down the road had not a good samaritan stopped and towed us. BTW, getting towed by rope down hill with only your parking break functioning is fun times.

So, I'm reminded of that every time I think of switching to a (much)cheaper cell phone plan. Because just about everyone has much worse coverage than VZW. Or they're comparable(mainly AT&T) but just as expensive and seem to be eliminating their MVNOs. Don't think Straight Talk gets access to AT&T anymore, no?
 
W

W4RH34D_sl

shitlord
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Deathwing_sl said:
Yeah, every time I consider switching off VZW, I'm reminded of the time my wife and I were stranded in bumfuck Vermont(which is 99.9% of Vermont) because her engine decided to eat its timing belt. Cell reception was spotty at best and the company I work for now decided that exact moment to call me up and extend an offer. Would have been stuck walking miles down the road had not a good samaritan stopped and towed us. BTW, getting towed by rope down hill with only your parking break functioning is fun times.

So, I'm reminded of that every time I think of switching to a (much)cheaper cell phone plan. Because just about everyone has much worse coverage than VZW. Or they're comparable(mainly AT&T) but just as expensive and seem to be eliminating their MVNOs. Don't think Straight Talk gets access to AT&T anymore, no?
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I used to work for verzion wireless, shitty customer service? They ride their CS agents so hard that if you get someone bad you should call back and complain and talk to someone else. They will deal with you as long as you have a history of paying your bill on time. They know when you call back for the same thing, that rep will get shit for it.

Hell i got my iphone weeks before my upgrade date. Shoulda waited for the 5s, but i was ready to kill my razr at the time.

BTW i was getting shitty battery life on my iphone ios7, went in to task manager and i had probably 60 apps open. It wasn't even sluggish, but just killed the battery. Color me impressed.
 
Deathwing

Deathwing

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W4RH34D_sl said:
I used to work for verzion wireless, shitty customer service? They ride their CS agents so hard that if you get someone bad you should call back and complain and talk to someone else. They will deal with you as long as you have a history of paying your bill on time.
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I imagine you meant to quote Noodles, but whatever! I have been surprised about VZW CS from time to time. They didn't do shit about the deadzone at my house, but the guy offered, with no solicitation from me, to let me out of my contract early. I'm considering doing that depending on how Moto X and Republic Wireless shapeup. Based on my reading over the weekend, the service still has a lot of kinks to work out. And I'm unsure if they can roam on to VZW's 3G network fully(voice & data) or not(just voice).
 
W

W4RH34D_sl

shitlord
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Deathwing_sl said:
I imagine you meant to quote Noodles, but whatever! I have been surprised about VZW CS from time to time. They didn't do shit about the deadzone at my house, but the guy offered, with no solicitation from me, to let me out of my contract early. I'm considering doing that depending on how Moto X and Republic Wireless shapeup. Based on my reading over the weekend, the service still has a lot of kinks to work out. And I'm unsure if they can roam on to VZW's 3G network fully(voice & data) or not(just voice).
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Do a lot of research for republic, trust me, if I can shake this $400/mo bill I will. But I have to have good service. Tryin to run a biz yo. No I quoted you cuz you said Yeah, agreeing with his post from what I gathered. But no biggie.
 
Alkorin

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W4RH34D_sl said:
BTW i was getting shitty battery life on my iphone ios7, went in to task manager and i had probably 60 apps open. It wasn't even sluggish, but just killed the battery. Color me impressed.
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Turn off background app updates (settings -> general). Instant fix for me, anyway.
 
Denamian

Denamian

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Deathwing_sl said:
Yeah, every time I consider switching off VZW, I'm reminded of the time my wife and I were stranded in bumfuck Vermont(which is 99.9% of Vermont) because her engine decided to eat its timing belt. Cell reception was spotty at best and the company I work for now decided that exact moment to call me up and extend an offer. Would have been stuck walking miles down the road had not a good samaritan stopped and towed us. BTW, getting towed by rope down hill with only your parking break functioning is fun times.

So, I'm reminded of that every time I think of switching to a (much)cheaper cell phone plan. Because just about everyone has much worse coverage than VZW. Or they're comparable(mainly AT&T) but just as expensive and seem to be eliminating their MVNOs. Don't think Straight Talk gets access to AT&T anymore, no?
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Straight Talk has AT&T sims again, hell, you can get a sim that lets you on AT&T's LTE network where it's available.

My old job used to have me driving around Vermont when I was on Sprint (mostly Rutland, Killington and Ludlow) and reception was very spotty. I've been out that way only once since I switched to Straight Talk and I've gotten decent reception pretty much everywhere. I do end up driving through a few dead spots in upstate NY, but overall coverage is pretty good until you get in to the Adirondacks, where it sucks balls for everyone. My sister has the usual contract plan with AT&T and she definitely has better coverage since she can roam, but it's not a big enough difference to me to justify paying nearly double what I pay.
 
Deathwing

Deathwing

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I guess I was mistaken then. You wouldn't happen to know if Verizon has any competent MVNOs worth the trouble?
 
Denamian

Denamian

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Net10 does CDMA through Verizon and they're essentially the same as Straight Talk, as they're both run by Tracfone. I haven't had any complaints with Straight Talk. The only time I had to deal with their customer service (due to some bullshit about my number from Sprint) they were competent and easy to deal with. A lot of things can be done through their website or their automated phone support.

I've never used a phone on Verizon's network, so I don't have any firsthand experience with them or MVNOs on their network. Here's a full list you can go through:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...work_operators
 
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