The Gadgetry Thread

[Brian Fowler]

I have repeatedly said I don't see the point of a smartwatch.

 

But two days ago I saw the LG G Watch R in person and I really want it.  Despite having no need for a smartwatch (hell, I don't even wear a regular watch....)

[glfpunk]

So what exactly is the OnePlus appeal compared to, say, the Nexus? Just curious because I picked up an invite for one at a tech show last week and I see all the buzz for it here...

It's specs are among the top phones on the market, it is vanilla android with cyanogen mod, it has a really good display, and it's extremely cheap compared to it's competition.

I personally prefer vanilla android without something over it like touchwiz or HTC sense. I've been on the nexus bandwagon since the 4 but with the 6 being so large and more importantly the high price, it just didn't make sense.

The one really is a slick device. A buddy ordered one the same day I did and already got his and after playing with it, I can't wait until mine comes in.

[Kevin Wilson]

What service are you using with it?  Mine is coming in two weeks-ish, I am still debating what carrier to use.  I currently am using a Verizon MVNO so I'll have to change.  I think we live in the same geographical area, unless you moved at some point.

[glfpunk]

What service are you using with it?  Mine is coming in two weeks-ish, I am still debating what carrier to use.  I currently am using a Verizon MVNO so I'll have to change.  I think we live in the same geographical area, unless you moved at some point.

 

I'm with AT&T.  I'm still basically in the same area but a little south, I moved to Moyock, NC.  I've tried Tmobile and wish that it worked out but the coverage was just too inconsistent to stay with them.  AT&T coverage-wise has been the best and I'd definitely recommend going to a carrier that uses their network.  I travel quite a bit on the east coast and never have issues with signal(voice or data). 

[Brian Fowler]

So, I'm weak willed and now am wearing a computer on my wrist. 

 

I have to admit, talking to my watch to send a text message is one of the most fun things I have done recently.  Just, you know, like Dick Tracy or a Power Ranger.

[odessasteps]

So, I'm weak willed and now am wearing a computer on my wrist. 

 

I have to admit, talking to my watch to send a text message is one of the most fun things I have done recently.  Just, you know, like Dick Tracy or a Power Ranger.

http://youtu.be/9uVw9qV1DLw

[Raziel]

The Chrome update for Android 4.3 and up makes me wonder if anyone actually looks at this shit before releasing it.  Its amazing how you take an amazing mobile browser and totally fuck it up in one update.

[Zimbra]

What'd they do?  I haven't used it much since the update but it seems pretty much the same to me.

[Raziel]

It runs the same, except it's now windowed to postage stamp size, (no really, its really small compaired to the screen), the address bar's contrast is all the way up, but the browser window is cranked way down.  

[Zimbra]

Huh, I haven't had that issue.  But looking around I see other people complaining about it.

 

The new Calendar app is the hotness.

[Zimbra]

I flashed 5.0 on to my phone this morning.  Early impressions are that it's pretty great, or at least pretty.  The improvements to notifications are stellar.

[Bix]

I flashed 5.0 on to my phone this morning.  Early impressions are that it's pretty great, or at least pretty.  The improvements to notifications are stellar.

 

Any noticeable improvements in battery life (or anything else that would get me to flash it instead of waiting for the OTA update to hit my Nexus 5)?

[Zimbra]

I can't say I've noticed any battery life improvements, but it's hard to tell since I've been messing with it quite a bit.  

[Petey]

 

I flashed 5.0 on to my phone this morning.  Early impressions are that it's pretty great, or at least pretty.  The improvements to notifications are stellar.

 

Any noticeable improvements in battery life (or anything else that would get me to flash it instead of waiting for the OTA update to hit my Nexus 5)?

 

I put the official update on my Nexus 7 2012 and the battery life is definitely better. I don't use my tablet a ton so I can't give you exact numbers, but I've noticed the battery not decreasing as much as it had been.

 

And yeah, 5.0 is really pretty (on the apps that use Material Design, at least). I'm hoping it'll help the battery of my 2013 Moto X.

[Vincey Greene]

Me and the wife just ordered our T-Mobile phones, as Sprint's separating employee plan kept coming out to a ridiculous figure for reasons I can't fully understand. She got (another) M8 and I picked up a Sony Xperia Z3 even though I haven't actually played with one in the flesh. I'll have a little rundown of my impressions on Thursday or Friday when I get the devices.

[glfpunk]

So I got my Oneplus One a couple days ago.  So far I like it.  It's not leaps and bounds different or better than my Nexus 5.  I do like a lot of the things that Cyanogen brings to the table and I like the screen size and clarity.  It's a fast phone but so was the Nexus.  No lag or anything.  But where it really shines compared to my previous phones is battery life.  Right now I'm sitting at 1d 7h 53min on my battery since the last time I charged it and I'm at 27% battery life.  I'm at 5hrs of screen on time and I use it a lot for streaming music also.  Wifi has been on the whole time as well as location services but bluetooth has been off since I don't use any bluetooth devices.  No QC issues or anything like that.  Touchscreen functions perfectly, colors are all beautiful, no random reboots or anything like that.  So far so good.  Definitely recommend it. 

[Bix]

So I got my Oneplus One a couple days ago.  So far I like it.  It's not leaps and bounds different or better than my Nexus 5.  I do like a lot of the things that Cyanogen brings to the table and I like the screen size and clarity.  It's a fast phone but so was the Nexus.  No lag or anything.  But where it really shines compared to my previous phones is battery life.  Right now I'm sitting at 1d 7h 53min on my battery since the last time I charged it and I'm at 27% battery life.  I'm at 5hrs of screen on time and I use it a lot for streaming music also.  Wifi has been on the whole time as well as location services but bluetooth has been off since I don't use any bluetooth devices.  No QC issues or anything like that.  Touchscreen functions perfectly, colors are all beautiful, no random reboots or anything like that.  So far so good.  Definitely recommend it. 

 

The battery life is what really sounds awesome to me (how much were you getting on your Nexus 5), and I keep considering buying it and trading in my Nexus 5 (fingers crossed that I'll see a noticeable difference with Lollipop), but the support horror stories and lack of anyone to repair it in the U.S. is a dealbreaker. I'm not waiting for a week or two to hear from support/potentially set up a repair and then paying $40 to send it to China if there's a problem.

 

Have you seen ANY performance improvements at all from the additional RAM? One thing that drives me crazy is how Disqus and other comment systems on mobile versions of blogs slow the browser to a crawl, which you would think wouldn't happen on a mobile optimized page.

 

And how do the cameras compare?

[Pete]

Speaking of battery life, for some reason the charge on both of my Galaxy devices has gone completely downhill... my tablet went down 70% in ONE HOUR yesterday despite me not doing anything out of the ordinary with it. I'm backing up my files and resetting it- has anyone else had this come up?

[Bix]

Speaking of battery life, for some reason the charge on both of my Galaxy devices has gone completely downhill... my tablet went down 70% in ONE HOUR yesterday despite me not doing anything out of the ordinary with it. I'm backing up my files and resetting it- has anyone else had this come up?

 

How old are they?

[Pete]

 

Speaking of battery life, for some reason the charge on both of my Galaxy devices has gone completely downhill... my tablet went down 70% in ONE HOUR yesterday despite me not doing anything out of the ordinary with it. I'm backing up my files and resetting it- has anyone else had this come up?

 

How old are they?

 

 

Got them both last fall (S3 phone in October, Tab 3 tablet in November). Battery life was fine until the past few days, which is why this seems to odd to me...

[odessasteps]

Did they push thru an update? Thats what killed the battery life in my galaxy3 so badly i had to upgrade.

[Pete]

My phone went up to 4.4.4 the other day but the battery issue predated the upgrade. Tablet got a Samsung update last week- hoping the reset takes care of that.

[glfpunk]

Bix, haven't really noticed much improvement in performance but the nexus was so fast I can't imagine where I would notice it. The cameras of the two devices seem very similar. Quality is high. Still doesn't compare to iPhone cameras but nothing really does. I don't honestly know what I was recently getting for screen on time with the nexus but I really had to always charge it at work after a full charge overnight. I'm at 1d 12h right now at 16% left on the one with just under 6hrs of screen on time.

[glfpunk]

Update on battery life.  Second use between charges was much more heavy.  I decided to run it until it died to see what I got out of it.  Ended up a little shy of 1d 8hrs but was much heavier use and it died about 5 minutes shy of 8hrs screen on time.  That's about 2hrs more than what Nexus 6 users are reportedly getting out of that phone which has a much larger battery.  That phone should improve battery performance with firmware updates though I'd imagine. 

[glfpunk]

Another update, this one about the camera. After being a little underwhelmed with it and my wife being a little frustrated because we have kids that don't sit still for pictures and she was coming from an iPhone camera, I finally figured it out. This camera app has settings for days. I haven't seen this level of camera settings on a phone before. But now the shutter speed is instant and it takes beautiful pictures.