>>19916
Even though you're clearly a Blackberry fan, I wouldn't get the Z10 - I support two at work and they're always going wrong; awful to use, weird UIs with some dodgy as fuck features. They're sufficiently different from previous Blackberry phones that there isn't a lot you'll miss by transferring to a different platform. I'm an iPhone person myself, even I would recommend you go and get the Samsung, by comparison.

If you're after a hardware keyboard and like blackberry why aren't you considering a Q10?

>>19917

Oh dear. I had feared this may be the case. I've just looked online and found someone's story of woe after their company swapped over to BB and had tech nightmares and now he's hate figure number one with the tech department. The BB forums seem to indicate likewise. Such a shame as they used to be so solid. And to top it off it sounds like they've changed so much anyway it's basically like a new manufacturer. Thanks for giving it to me straight, doc. I'd rather know it's a flop even if I do like them.

How could it have it all gone so wrong? I really don't understand it. My own early misgivings was their continued failed efforts to get their miserable app store up to speed and then with the blank slate that was the new OS or simply make it android compatible. These days a smart phone with little in the way of apps looks very poor. Imagine how long iPhones would last if Apple wiped out their app store or released feature phones with no app ability only (likewise with other brands). Before OS 10 hit the high street I and quite a few were hoping this was the next big thing and would solve all the gripes.

I guess I have to ditch the BB options. I see Sony have cut the price on the Xperia SP a chunk too. That seems to be a slightly older but rather decent model compared to the Samsung's newer but more budget type model. Any experience or word on Sony phones or what they are like to type on? I'm still rather new with touch screens but I feel I'll probably have to bite the bullet.

>>19918

It's the screen size. I just couldn't go back to a tiny one again these days and my eyes aren't getting any younger or better with time and the bigger screen makes it easier to use any touch screen aspects. BB used to make a full touch screen model with a full qwerty keyboard that also slid out and a small gem type controller that you could use for controlling a mouse pointer that was very accurate when you got used to it. That was perfect for me, but they've ignored that design for some time now so there's nothing new available as a direct upgrade. Now BB's models make me pick between a tiny half screen and a keyboard or a full screen and touch only. For web, browsing, email, apps, etc. the screen size is too important to lose out on. Also, the Q10 is about two hundred plus more, I think. Much higher cost for something I might feel is a compromise is painful to consider.

>>19919
I'm posting from an SP right now, pretty solid phone. I like it.

I used to have a BB too.

Do not bother with the Z10 mate. I had one and returned it after a week. The battery just doesn't last anywhere near as long as needed. You can barely get 8 hours out of the bloody thing and that's with normal usage. The Q10 is much much better IMO.

>>19919
Didn't read the reat, don't know why. Yeah anyway it's pretty easy, I think the SP keyboard is decent when it's horizontal, I can type wwith my eyes closed now, it's just become second nature to know where the keys are. I have pretty girly hands though, I don't think you'd have much trouble though.

>>19920
>>19922

Same person? If so how would you compare working with the two systems and typing on them, email, web and texts? Also the interface and speed of access to main functions (do you have to wade through menus to send an email or browse or is it a tap and you're off)? You're obviously happy with the SP which is a good sign. Typing without looking is one of the things I liked with the BB. It makes it feel so effortless and natural. I've never been able to touch type on any other phone than my BB before.

>>19921

That's pretty poor too. 8 hours isn't really good enough. That alone would be a deal breaker. I bet it drops even more with heavy use. I might be out at work or something and it I'd like it to at least last 12 hours. I can't always be sure of being able to leave it charging midway through a day out.

>>19916

Unless you have some very specific requirements, then IMO there are only three phones worth considering - the Motorola Moto G, the Huawei Y300 and the Google Nexus 5. The Moto G in particular is exceptional value - it costs under £130 on PAYG but has similar specs to a lot of flagship handsets at 3x the price. Motorola is now wholly owned by Google, so you're getting Android as Google intended. The cheaper Huawei Y300 is just £70 on PAYG but is more than enough phone for 90% of people. The camera isn't the best and the construction is very slightly plasticky, but otherwise it's a superb phone. The Nexus 5 is every bit as good as the iPhone 5 or the Galaxy 4, but costs £300 SIM-free.

With any of those handsets, you'll feel justifiably smug about getting so much phone for your money. In terms of value, nothing else comes close.

>>19923
Typing on the SP is sttange at first but you get used to it. The autocorrect function is more annoying if anything, you have to beat it into submission by convincing it that you mean 'benis' when you type it.

Browsing is so much better on this than with my old BB 9360, so much speedier, can handle larger pages more easily, all around better. It falls over when you have some dynamic content sometimes, but not often.

Once you get used to navigation it's simple, the three main buttons I Have on the side of the screen right now is a back button and a home button, which from here both take you back to the home screen, and a shortcut button which means you can go from one recently used app to another. There's tonnes of apps now by the way.

I can't really say anything negative about it to be honest, took a while to get used to from a BB but it's smooth as anything for me now. I can't comment on the battery life since I charge it at every available opportunity.

>>19924

The Moto G is very impressive for the money on paper. So cheap now compared to similar specs at hugely more and it still doesn't look like a second rate phone. The graphics chip isn't as beefy as the Xperia SP, but the rest looks not bad. Shame it can't take any memory cards like the SP. The battery life for the Moto G seems hard to believe. It looks like it lasts forever. Quad core CPU for Moto, even if it is low speed sounds nice if it has an impact on the phone operation. I suppose the real question though comes down to what it is like to use for real and how well it runs apps? Does it compare well to the SP and others?

>>19926

The reviews have been absolutely glowing and nobody has found any real fault with it other than a slightly underwhelming camera. As you suggest, it's a first-rate phone at a bargain basement price. I've only used a pre-release unit for about an hour, but it performed brilliantly at everything but 3D gaming. I'm a proper gadget snob and I'd be perfectly happy to use one as my main device. As I said, unless you have very specific requirements (e.g. the lack of a card slot is a deal-breaker) then it's sensational value for money.

>>19919
>Such a shame as they used to be so solid.

They did. Like I said in >>19917 I'm an iPhone person, but before that I had a Blackberry 9000 series phone because the email/calendar support was out of this world, particularly if you used Exchange server at work (this is how BB took over, for a while). Modern BB phones are a pale shadow of what they produced in the early noughties, they're nowhere near what consumers are used to on either the iPhone or Android platforms. If I wanted a laugh, I'd even choose a Windows Phone over it, that's how bad it is.

I'm not going to try and sell you the iPhone even though I adore them, buy an Android if thats what you like the look of. Under no circumstances buy a Z10. That's my opinion as a certified technical wizard.

At this rate I wonder how long it will be before Android starts taking over the desktop too.

>>19930
A long, long time. Android is a home-made Linux platform and as such, looks like every other home-made desktop Linux platform. Not without it's value, but I'd rather give Apple a million pounds than use a free Linux desktop - I have work to do.

>>19931
N8 M1 DEM GOOGLES WON NO WOT IT EM

>>19931

But think of the Ouya taking the world by storm. It is creeping in.

>>19933

If by "storm" you meant to follow that up with "in a teacup" then yes. Very much so.

>>19933
I don't think the Ouya is taking the world by storm. It's a niche product. Clever, but not mainstream. Like the Steam console, clever and cute but not going to take over the world. I love Linux, but not on the desktop/phone/console; it's too rough.

Is Hidden in plain sight on phones yet or is it just Ouya flavour of Android?

I'm wondering if Blackberry will end up like Nokia and Motorola and be bought over by some other big money concern to use their brand and resources or will they end up going the way of Sega and forgetting about the unique hardware and concentrating on a reduced ambition selling software or customised Android flavours or phone models at best. I really don't see the path they are on now as one which will lead to a revival from their down turn. A pity.

It wasn't that long ago I remember getting investment advice to buy Blackberry too. Hmmm.

>>19939

I don't even think that they're worth buying for their technology. RIM's patent portfolio is weak and the best engineers and managers have long since jumped ship.

>>19940

>I don't even think that they're worth buying for their technology

Ouch! That bad, eh? Explains a lot about the results and state of their company and product line. They used to be market leaders. Astonishing. I guess all that is left then is the brand and maybe BBM and a few scraps of software patents and designs someone might have for cheap or maybe even will be sold off for debts. How dreadful.

What's the betting on time of death for BB then?

I hope Samsung, Apple and the rest are paying attention to BB and taking notes on what not to do.

I've had similar issues with finding a successor to a keyboard phone (mine was a Nokia N900), so i've decided to go with a Jolla phone. Although it doesn't have a hardware keyboard with it, it has a hardware I2C bus built into the back of it so one will almost certainly be produced fairly rapidly. However, its running Sailfish, which may not be to your taste and is somewhat Beta quality at the moment.

>>19941

The Playbook fiasco tells the story IMO. I was given one for free through their developer programme and I kept it for all of three days before punting it on eBay. At launch, the Playbook had no email app whatsoever; If you wanted to get your email on the tablet, you had to pair it with a Blackberry phone. Blackberry were just living in a bubble, completely oblivious what the competition were offering.

I think they became incredibly hubristic, with a corporate culture that held onto the belief that they dominated the enterprise market at a time when employees were begging their IT departments to allow them to use their own handsets rather than the work-issue Blackberry.

Eventually, their complacency cost them everything. WhatsApp stole the consumer space that BBM had dominated, Microsoft Exchange overtook Blackberry Enterprise Server and the twin leviathans of iOS and Android made Blackberry OS look like a relic. By the time they realised the rot had set in, it was too late. What was left of their reputation was undermined by a series of rushed products that weren't ready for release; These expensive failures cost them two years of development work for no real gain, which was ruinous for morale.

In early 2008, the markets valued Blackberry at $200bn; They're now valued at $6bn, and I think they're overvalued at that price. Given that they lost over $1bn last year, I don't think anyone would be foolish enough to buy them as a going concern. The obvious customers for their patent portfolio really aren't interested, as they already have vast IP resources of their own - Google own Motorola, Microsoft own Nokia, Apple and Samsung both have comfortable patent portfolios and HP have had their fingers burned after their disastrous acquisition of Palm. The best realistic scenario is that a private equity group buys them in order to license out their IP, which is probably worth $3bn tops. I'd forecast a sale within the first few months of 2014, otherwise they're looking at bankruptcy within the year.

>>19945

Great post and fascinating read. My gut and what I've seen says you are right. The Playbook was a death knell or maybe more accurately a red flag for what had already set in and that you couldn't even tolerate it for free says so much. Imagine the poor bastards that paid through the nose for it, wishing they had got any number of alternatives.

The Blackberry forums like crackberry are living in a bizarre bubble of hope and rainbows. Regular posts of praise basically shouted into the air as even the choir aren't listening to them. They've even made sticky threads with countless posts just for people to post that they are giving up their Blackberry phone, there must have been half the forum first page taken up with threads non stop so they had to try and make things look better by sweeping it all into one thread. Still, the manic overconfidence seems to stay with them despite it all crashing around them. Fans are very strange and irrational, I suppose. I just don't get how anyone, especially the adults involved, could end up so overly attached to Blackberry.

The only joke or blunder as big with the other rivals right now is that dreadful Samsung watch which is seeing 30%+ returns with some chains from angry customers. I see it's now being given away with some phones in Christmas deals. Probably the only way they will ship and sell the things. Not that it will make them money, but they can give nice figures of "X amount shipped", even if they never end up on wrists.

>>19945

Looks like it's time to take the last of the losses and sell any BB investments.

>>19946
>I just don't get how anyone, especially the adults involved, could end up so overly attached to Blackberry.

It's basic cognitive dissonance. It's easier to maintain a fantasy than to confront the cold hard fact that you're wrong. You see exactly the same thing in doomsday cults - when the end of the world doesn't arrive as prophesied, most of the cult followers just feel a bit silly and get on with their life, but some will ardently defend their group, concocting some convoluted reason for why the prophesy didn't come true and why it will do next time. There's a self-reinforcing element, in that people like to feel that they're somehow special, whether that means being part of an elite group who know something secret or being part of a persecuted minority. Viewed through that prism, it feels good when people criticise your article of faith, because it reinforces your sense of specialness.

It's a similar but distinct line of thought to the more common sort of tribal fanboyism, where there are two or three options of roughly equal merit. If you bought an Xbox but see people enjoying their Playstations, it's easy to start feeling buyer's remorse and wondering whether you made the right decision. The easiest way to deal with those feelings of doubt is to polarise the situation and concoct a world view in which the Playstation is shit and everyone who bought it is an idiot. It's easy to magnify the flaws of the rival product and minimise the flaws of your own in order to justify that view. It's much harder to deal with the more ambiguous and uncertain reality - that the thing you've bought is fine, but the thing the other guy bought is also fine in a slightly different way and you'd probably be equally happy with that.

>>19948
Combined with the fact that everyone has a phone, everyone only has one, and everyone makes it last at least two years, making it a fairly significant piece of most people's lives.

>>19919

The Q10 screen is not small at all really.

It is also compatible with all Android apps, and they are very easy to install.

>>19951
Considering how well many Android apps work on devices other than Samsung, I'm sure it's not all rosy.

>>19952
SPlad here again, I've had a grand total of zero problems other than the app made by my uni, but I never expected that to work either.

From the guides I've seen online and BB user comments it is not properly compatible with Android apps. They didn't even intend it to be so. They'd consider that incompatibility to be WAD. RIM were retarded enough to not even realise this was something people would want, despite the explosion in the world app market. It suffers from the old "walled garden" approach, is a badly tended garden and sideloading and so on is messy and doesn't guarrantee results and detracts from the smooth "touch of a button" experience people expect these days. They are lost to another age. A nice proper Google-approved Android base means you're going to get a smoother experience and a wider range of software available and that's not even going as far as to root it.

>>19953

Last time I saw a Sony mobile I was impressed with the software. I remember seeing minecraft running on it very smoothly and that's getting into about as complicated as you'd want on a phone, compared to the usual flash style fare. Not heard or seen any problems with compatibility with them either. I'd bet other brands like the moto g being vanilla servings shouldn't have any problems with apps either as they shouldn't present anything other than the blank slate the developers expected.

>>19952

Well I have never had any issues running Android apps on the Q10. No jailbreaking or the like required either which is pretty good IMO.

>>19954

But the BB OS10 is actually a flavour of Android itself.

>>19956

It's a mangled flavour they've added strange and alien ingredients to that renders it almost inedible for many.

>>19957

Were the devs Japanese?

>>19958

The Japanese are always to blame for everything.

>>19959

AINT DAT DA JEWZ M7

>>19960

The Japs invented the Jews. I hear that if you shoot a Jap they flash several times and then turn into a Jew as their final form.

>>19961

Audible mirth.

>>19961

Jids?

>>19963
Weeajew?

>>19964

Nah, that's shit m7.

OP here. I think I'll go for the SP, after seeing SPlad's opinion's and generally favourable review and that it is available for a reasonable price.

The only thing that's taking me time to decide and holding me back so far is the tremendous value that is the Moto G phone which is about 80-90% of the phone (and a quad core processor) for about 70+ quid less.

>>19966
For some reason it's made my quite anxious that you've decided to take my opinion seriously on such a relatively large purchase.

Go to a phone shop and have a play around with them. I do like my SP, it probably is too beefy for what I use it for, but then I don't really know, I'm not exposed to many modern electronics. I don't even bother to change the background on my desktop for fucks sake, it's just a black screen.

>>19965
That hurts my feelings.

>>19967

It's all your fault if I don't like it. I'll make a post calling you out. I mean, I've got to stop buying baby formula for weeks and tighten my own belt for this. I've had to cancel Christmas for the whole family.

Spunked the money. I hope to hell I don't regret this. Cost 220 including delivery, sim free, which is a nice bonus. At least the price has dropped since the original RRP.

SP lad, we can be special phone pals and everything.

>>19979

You mug. You could have gotten a mint condition one from CeX for 35 quid less. Is it too late to cancel it?

https://uk.webuy.com/product.php?sku=SSONSPC53028GBUNLA

They also do the Limited Edition Red one, for a fiver less than you paid. Don't know if it is unlocked for all networks though.

>>19980

Oh, yeah. It is.

>>19980

Aren't they second hand?

>>19982

Your point? They don't buy in things that don't work and they have very specific criteria for something they buy in to get an A grade.

Anything A grade from CeX is like new and everything they sell has a 12 month warranty.

>>19983

Not putting them down. I've never used them. I'd be wary of buying second hand electronics as I've had bad experiences with it in the past. What is their customer service and returns process like though?

>>19984

CeX are good eggs, they hire competent staff and train them well. They don't deal in junk, because they know that the only way they can justify their existence is to offer a safer, more reliable way of buying second-hand than eBay or Craigslist. If you go into CeX to sell your phone or console, you don't get your money immediately - they send you away for an hour or so while they run the item through a battery of tests and only agree to buy it if they're confident that it is working properly.

Trivial aside: Charlie Brooker used to work in their TCR branch back in the early days.

>>19985

Are they good shop front or bricks and mortar dealers only or are they just as okay for online and to deliver too?

They have some tempting offers there indeed.

If CeX say it is mint, is it really "as new"? Also, is there a real risk of wear and tear on the device from use shortening it's life despite cosmetic appearances?

Cheers for explaining this stuff.

>>19987
>is there a real risk of wear and tear on the device from use shortening it's life despite cosmetic appearances?
Probably the biggest risk is lithium ion batteries. They don't actually like being charged 100% and doing so reduces the number of charge cycles you'll get out of them but for marketing reasons very few devices will let you charge them to 80% or so. If you buy second-hand electronics then it will usually be the battery that fucks you. A replacement is typically cheap enough but certain devices don't make it easy (be careful with Apple products).

>>19988

>They don't actually like being charged 100%

Really??? I had no idea about this. This is a big shocker to me.

>>19989

Lithium battery chemistry is surprisingly complicated. Lithium batteries will die if they're fully discharged, but they also hate being kept at full charge. Gadgets with lithium batteries usually arrive half-charged, because that's the safest charge state for long-term storage. People often leave their laptops plugged in all day, which is fatal for the battery - a lithium battery will last much longer if it's partly discharged on a regular basis. Lithium batteries have a finite life whether they're used or not, so should be considered consumable and perishable.

>>19989
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/09/laptop-battery/
Came as a bit of a surprise to me too.

As this thread is phone related, what is the brifa.gs opinion on coloured phones for lads? Am I outing myself as a flaming homosexual with every text and phone call or are they as acceptable for a lad as the usual black and somtimes white?

>>19992
Even if it was pink people would probably assume you were borrowing your missus' phone.

>>19993

What if it was purple? Is purple an acepptable phone colour for a man or is that a "wife phone" I'd have to explain?

Sorry, Purpz, nothing personal

>>19994

I had a Purple LG Viewty Snap, no-one batted an eyelid. Good feature phone, as it happens.

>>19994
Purple is the very gayest of colours. Only a raging poofter would choose purple for their smartphone, or, say, their online identity.

>>19986

My missus is a Supervisor in CeX and she says when you buy something online it gets shipped from a store.

So, if you are worried about it you can go into your nearest branch and see if they have what you are after, but even if they don't they will order it in for you from another store, if the item is of high enough value they will UPS it, and then in the unlikely event it goes wrong you can take it back to the store instead of dealing with an online returns procedure.

This is a work around that I've used, because CeX don't have a Customer Service number you have to e-mail them and I have the advantage of a man on the inside, so to speak.

>>19996

>Purple is the very gayest of colours.

What gives you that idea?

>>19994
You can always just get a super cheap plastic cover in whatever colour you desire off eBay to cover the phone with. They're manufactured for nearly every popular smartphone.

>>19997

They list what stores have their stock on the right hand side of the item screen online, so you can actually just check the website for Stock in your local area.

I know you have already ordered a phone, but this seems like it would be worth your consideration if you cancel it.

Closest to stock Android as is possible to get, no bloatware. Good phone, well within your budget. There is also an 8gb version for a little cheaper.

https://uk.webuy.com/phones/product.php?mastersku=SLGE96016GB&sku=SLGE96016GBUNLA#.Upzd7FogGSM

>>19997

Surely you are the man on the inside in this case?

Or were you the one who made the thread about pegging and feeldoes?

CeX has a strange and clunky website. I seem to get different results depending on which way I enter the search process and the filter options aren't too helpful either.

>>20002

Har har.

Surely purple is a colour of manliness and royalty?

I'd get a phone cover I suppose...although deep down I'd revel in my secret purpleness

One thing I think is overlooked with the phones is the "bigger is better" trap. How big are your pockets? Do you have enough room to spare in your trousers to slip an extra five incher or more in there? Likewise for coat pockets, etc. The "phablet" size could be very awkward for daily use as a phone.

>>20003

Vague searches are useless on that site. It has the auto complete thing google does when you're searching in the main search bar though, which helps, but it doesn't seem fit for purpose.

Many complaints and suggestions from staff, many of whom have experience in web design, have yet to be heeded.

If the Sony Xperia SP is 220 then Cex could even bump up the model to a Xperia Z for only a tiny bit more...but it is in what Britfa.gs considers the GAYEST COLOUR IN ALL OF CHRISTENDOM. Ideal for arranging meatings with all of the poz lads. It might be getting a bit bulky or battery hungry with a bigger screen though?

>>20007

Even the auto suggest seems to be hit and miss. I can't seem to get the same results as others in searches or sometimes even the same results twice. Oh, please, CeX, you have a large number of technically minded employees - listen to them.

>>20006

I'm a tiny little nine stone nerd, but I have no bother fitting a 6" phablet in my trouser pocket unless I'm in skinny jeans. The bigger issue IMO is the size of your thumbs - above about 4.5", most people struggle to reach enough of the screen when using the device one-handed. Some phablet makers have compensated by shifting the keyboard over to one side, but it's not ideal.

>>20008
>it is in what Britfa.gs considers the GAYEST COLOUR IN ALL OF CHRISTENDOM.
I was only joking about that for a comedy ban, my old HTC Wildfire cover had purple butterflies and shit on it (though I did eventually dremel them off).

You lads are great, but you don't make this easy. I did quickly clear the order and I'm looking at CeX and others and back to procrastination.

>>20009

6" is okay for you then? I thought maybe a standard man's wallet size is about the limit of comfort for most jeans or trousers without it either being uncomfortable or making people think you have a robot leg with a metal plate on your thigh. Is it okay to sit or crouch, etc. with it in there?

>>20010

Back in the closet, ay lad?

I'll just leave this here and say nothing.

>>20013

At last. Purple's true identity is revealed to the internet. Faked his own death so he could escape leading a country so he could instead spend time working in his shed on this board.

>>20014

I could lead the entire fucking universe and still have time to run this board. Awaits ban.

>>19997

My missus read this at work and has just got in and given me a gale force talking to for telling people this.

Bitch

Right. Before I make another mistake, I've decided to go with CeX. I can go for the flaming homosexual Xperia Z which is about the same price as I was willing to pay for the SP before anyway and seems very impressive or I can go for the CeX SP for forty five quid less. Thoughts?

>>20016

You took one for the lads like a true hero. Now go give her a good pozzing to show her who is boss. Also, tell her the website is really, really shit. Come on CeX, don't show yourselves up.

I'm still blaming the resident SPlad if this all goes horribly wrong.

>>20017

The Xperia Z is a really good phone.

If you can afford it, it's a no brainer. It has waterproof and dustproof seals round all the charging ports, etc. meaning that if it is properly secured it can be used underwater for upto 30 mins. Why anyone would risk that though...

>>20020

Obviously so I can post here while I am drowning myself in the bath.

>>20020
An acquaintance of mine owned a T. I was looking at getting one, and then the Z came out with buffed specs. Spotted a discounted contract at £26/mo, sprung for it, and haven't looked back since. The only trouble is that for months I've had people joking about dunking it in a pint.

I am going to call my phone Purpz from now on in honour of our very own host and the colour of my outrageously gay phone.

My not-really-a-smart-phone-at-all-but-it-runs-angry-birds-maybe-you-can-fool-your-slow-friends Nokia Asha 300 broke last week, so on boxing day I ended up buying a Moto G as a late Christmas present to myself. It cost £99 on Tesco Mobile, and £2 to get it unlocked, and honestly I couldn't be happier or more surprised with it. I've used a mate's iPhone 5C and it's astounding that that handset costs more than 4x what I paid for mine. On the other hand, I've also used an Xperia J which is in the same price range as the Moto G and is an absolute nugget of shite in comparison. Nothing about the Moto G feels cheap at all. I'm almost genuinely concerned that maybe they used slave labour to drive the price down that low.

If anyone on this board has, like me, been reluctant to jump into the smartphone arena because the high end devices are too pricey for what you need, the low end devices are too shit for what you need, and the mid range devices are the worst of both worlds, I can heartily recommend this phone. I've never heartily recommended anything before.

>>20321
It's made by Google, so I imagine it's a stepping stone to world domination getting people involved in the brand by getting them cheap so to speak and then ramping up their market share that way.

Funny you should post that, my little brother got that phone for christmas (My recommendation, the rents money) and did the exact same as you, for the same price. I've had a bit of a play around with it and it's a solid phone. The thing that got me about some of the competitors in that price band was the screen quality, some of them looked like they were half a decade old.

The Moto G is probably a loss leader or zero profit machine at most as the quality to price blows everything else at the same price range out of the water. They'll make the money from later market share gained and the Google Play store. It'll be similar idea to the consoles.

>>20323

Yes and no. Google use their own devices to drive the market forward, partly by creating the standard to beat and partly by creating economies of scale for component manufacturers. We saw this quite clearly with the Nexus 7 - within a year, the Android tablet market was flooded with Nexus 7 clones, many of them using the same SoC and LCD module. Prices tumbled as manufacturers had no choice but to compete with the Nexus 7, and manufacturers moved away from expensive 10" tablets and towards cheap seven-inchers. Google create the sort of device they'd like to see, sell it as cheaply as possible and hope that manufacturers take the hint and rip off the design.

I think that the Moto G is intended as a tactical assault on the relatively weak midrange handsets from the likes of Samsung and LG. They offer really cheap handsets (~£70) with three or four year old specs, really high end devices with £400+ price tags and not much in between. I think Google are trying to force Samsung and LG to compete in this market to drive down the price of a 'good enough' handset, just as the Nexus 7 shifted the price point of a typical tablet from ~£400 to less than half that.

I am another happy Moto G owner, though I paid £135 to get it sim-free shortly after it was launched.

The official flip-covers seem pretty difficult/expensive to get hold of though. They were out of stock everywhere until recently and even now the cheapest price I could find was just under £18.

>>20323
Motorola have stated that the Moto G makes a profit, and independent analysts have agreed, although the percentage of profit from each handset is estimated at around 5%. That's much less than Samsung or Apple make, but this is Google, so they can look at a that figure from atop their huge pile of ad money and shrug it off as the cost of fucking around with the market.

I just jizzed £299 on a nexus 5.
Seemed to provide best price to performance ratio in the top end handset bracket, off contract, obviously.
Previously had the older Samsung galaxy nexus which I really loved, was immeasurable better than the iphone I had before it. Hoping the nexus 5 will meet my expectations when it arrives.

Anyone got one?

>>20328
ITS SO BIG, MORGAN.

Thanks to this thread I decided to get a Moto G from tesco, sadly every time I have looked at their website it has been sold out.
If you got the 8GB version are you finding that enough storage? Not sure if I should get the 8GB or 16GB version.

>>20392

It depends on how you use your phone. The main storage hogs are 3D games, music and video. I stream everything over 3G and don't play many games, so I'm fine with the 8GB version.

>>20392
I had the same worry, mostly because I had wanted the phone to replace my iPod classic and save me from carting that around as well as a phone. Happily, I discovered Google Play Music, to which you can upload all of your music and stream it anywhere for no cost. Also you can set photos and videos to automatically back up to THE CLOUD, and get 50Gb of storage on Google Drive free for 2 years with the handset.

So if your phone's generally going to be online and you don't mind the possibility of waking up with PROPERTY OF GOOGLE INC. branded on your arse, you only really have to worry about space for apps and games.

Also the Tesco website said it was sold out of every store within a 25km radius of me yet the first one I walked into had plenty in stock, so you may give it a go anyway.

>>20392
Techradar put the moto g as their fifth best phone of the year, and the only one in its price band.

If you're going to fill it with music, get the bigger one, however if this isn't a concern get the smaller. My SP is eight gb I think and it's plenty for what I use it for, plus some big choonz.

>>20406

Pound for pound, the Moto G is undoubtedly the best handset going - you're getting flagship performance for a budget price. The limited amount of storage is the only major downside, but Google are trying to get you into the cloud mindset and store everything online.

The Xperia Z is the dogs bollocks for the price you can get them at now. Moto G is super too if that's your budget. Set your budget and then look at the phones that fit, that's the best way of doing it or you will overrun your budget or simply taunt yourself with what you cannot afford.

Love the new movable reply boxes, BTW, Purpz.

If anyone has been waiting, the 8gb Moto G is back in stock at Tesco.

>>20409

I'm about to purchase a Moto G, but my main concern is durability. Do these phones live a long time? I've had a HTC break on me within a year (admittedly I was quite sloppy with it, but you know).

>>22367
>a HTC
Lad.

>>22367
They haven't been available for a year, but mine seems quite durable.

Seeing as many people (including myself) have sung the praises of the Moto G on this site for the past couple of years, I thought I'd perform a bit of thread necromancy to let any lads looking for a phone know that buying britfa.gs' favourite handset would be a pretty silly move now, because you can get its much more attractive sister, the flagship Moto X, for the same price or cheaper new on ebay. It runs the same almost stock android as the Moto G, but has a faster processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB of storage, a better camera, a cool notification system that only lights up a few pixels, voice gimmicks etc. etc.

Also it's not a fucking huge slab that you can't use in one hand or fit in a human pocket like every phone seems to be by law nowadays.

I picked one up myself a few months ago for around £170, and it's real damn good.

>>23971
>Also it's not a fucking huge slab that you can't use in one hand
That sounds awful. You'll go blind squinting at for-desktop web pages.

Seriously though, my Note 3 received its OTA Lollipop update this week. They finally moved the emergency dialler button on the lock screen somewhere I'm not going to press it every third time I unlock my device. Hallelujah! Unfortunately I can't configure the pedometer and it's stuck on, but the increase in UI fluidity more than makes up for that minor annoyance.

>>23972
The Moto X has a 4.7 inch screen, which is big enough to render everything just fine without being so fuck-off-huge that it impairs its function.

And almost all sites have mobile versions/are designed with mobile viewing in mind.

And I already have five percent vision without glasses or contacts, you big insensitive arse.

>>23973
>And I already have five percent vision without glasses or contacts, you big insensitive arse.
Prosecution rests, your honour.

Seeing as the thread is already undead, I thought I'd chuck in my couple of cents. Pic related (HTC One M8) is by far and away the best phone I've ever used. Everything's snappy (even with 5.0s extra bells and whistles), I've had zero issues running apps and the screen is big enough to prop it up on the side and watch video clips. Might be a tad large for some people's tastes but unless you have tiny lady hands or wear skin-tight jeans with no pocket space then it's fine. Oh and it has by far and away the best integrated speakers on a phone I've ever heard, makes my mate's Note 4 sound like a bag of screws rattling at the bottom of a well.

Just so I don't seem like an HTC employee, I will point out that the HTC Mini is the biggest waste of money I've ever seen without an Apple logo on it - hey I heard you like your phone so I got a phone for your phone so you can etc etc. No.

>>23976

I have a One M7 and I'm seconding this, the flagship HTC models are just shit hot. The only thing they're missing is the ability to expand the memory, but I'd still pick a One over a Galaxy for overall fit and finish. I find myself getting more and more frustrated every time I use iOS now. They've fucked the user experience entirely.

>>23976
>HTC One M8
Nice phone M8.

Sorry.

If anyone is looking for a mid-priced phone, there's a new value champion, the Vodafone Smart Ultra 6. For £125, you get a 1080p display, 4G, eight cores, 2gb of RAM, Android L, a decent sized battery and a MicroSD slot. Unlocking is available on eBay for less than a fiver, and you don't have to buy a topup with the phone. It's a ridiculous bargain, even compared to those off-brand Chinese phones from DX.

http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/pay-as-you-go/vodafone-smart-6-ultra-payg/sku86605-grey
http://www.trustedreviews.com/vodafone-smart-ultra-6-review


Apologies for the bump.

>>24345
>Apologies for the bump.
Not at all. It's nice when people bump old threads with new information, instead of just replying to a months old post to call someone a cunt.

>>24346

See you in a few months mate... :-*

(A good day to you Sir!)