[sansvk]

Have received an OTA update notice for Android 5.1.1 on my Nexus 5. Has any updated or is aware of any issues?

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by acurafan

You may want to check the LTE bands supported in UK vs what is offered in Mi4i. I don't know how many different bands of LTE are offered worldwide(20+), but one thing is certain that there isn't a universal LTE phone yet.

The proof of that pudding will be in the eating

Ok, I could probably dig for it, but, in the end It's going to be what it is. If I was buying the phone for that capability, it would be a letdown if it didn't work, but I am not: for most of its useful life, the 4G thing is going to be a not-particular-relevant part of the spec. Although there's certainly no harm in a little bit of future-proofing.

Up to this time, I have not even had a data plan on my phone, except for occasional periods. All I do is check mail/whatsapp occasionally, when I am expecting something, and that's not even daily or weekly. My mobile-phone bill is something like 3k or 4k a year! Maybe less: I don't count it; I just put a thousand or so prepaid on the phone and then forget about it until I see the balance dropping to 100-and-something, or until a trip is coming up.

Usage habits might change with a screen that is big enough to read. Time will tell.

Originally Posted by Gansan

I would suggest people to check out popular brick-n-mortar mobile stores for handsets that are not sold exclusively through online stores. Their price is not very different from online stores, and sometimes is lower. I was surprised to see the Xperia Z ultra on sale at Saravana super store for 18.5k, while the price online was higher. Plus we can physically check the phone and then buy.

We bought Mrs G's Samsung from a store. There is nothing to beat having a good look around at everything, physically checking out the two or three that are of interest/affordabel, and taking the thing straight home. Online shopping certainly has its advantages too, of course, and obviously I'm not averse to doing it too

[dark.knight]

After 8 weeks of using the Xperia Z3 Compact I'm finally giving a very honest review of the same, I feel there are many accurate reviews of phones like Samsung, Apple and even countless Chinese brands yet none about Sony. Here goes.

Day-to-day : For starters my usage is lesser than the average - about half hour of 3G, music about half hour, calls would average out to an hour or less per day. The battery life lasts 4.5 days on average even then there'd be about 10% left, sometimes if the usage is higher like watching videos then it maybe anywhere around 3-4 days. I personally love the freedom of not having to charge it daily. Is it waterproof as claimed? Yes, I have on many occasions cleaned the phone under the tap, the phone speakers will go a little flat until the phone dries for half hour, so do not do it before making a call, also ensure all port flaps are firmly locked in place if at all you do so.

Camera : I do not see how any Samsung or Apple can beat the 15.5mp resolution of the Sony. Of course it took me awhile to learn the different manual settings, specially adjusting the ISO and the lens captures brilliant low-light photography - even better than eyesight. The auto mode (8mp)does a fair job in broad daylight, better than Samsung but maybe Apple with the same Sony lens has done a better job tweaking photos in 8mp resolution. In 15.5mp though Sony cannot be matched by a mile. There are countless manual options like Backlight Correction (to click photos of computer/t.v Screens), Sports, Soft Skin, Anti-motion blur, Fireworks etc which do exactly as promised. The 20.7mp option is only in 4:3 size plus its grainy so not exactly recommended. It shoots 4K video with no overheating upto 2 mins (my experience).

The feel : In hand the phone feels extremely solid and sophisticated. The Xperia Android skin feels far more sophisticated than any phone I've seen. The software is no nonsense and tweaked practically, there are options like answering machine, tap to wakeup, glove mode, white balance correction (its essential as stock white balance has too much blue in it), auto backlight, intelligent display etc. While it doesn't have much bloatware I've disabled over half the stock apps which aren't necessary to me, hence the added battery life. Music quality is great, stock earphones aren't - one bad move by Sony which is known for sound quality.

Is it value for money? My opinion is a resounding yes, its leagues above Samsung in build quality and leagues above Apple in features & value for money, perhaps the only Android manufacturer worthy of being called premium. The water-proofing claim is genuine and heavy rains wont even tickle the phone.

Recommended accessories : Get the magnetic wireless charging dock if possible, it doesn't require the flap to be opened thus becoming incredibly convenient to charge. Its a must for this phone.

[FINTAIL]

Originally Posted by petrolhead_neel

Thanks a lot. Will try to convince Dad to order it. In the mean time, can I use a Galaxy S4 charger to charge up my Moto G2?

Cheers,
Neel

Of course you can- I guess you can even use the Lumia charger.

How's the phone doing?

___________________________

Originally Posted by srishiva

Is the Google Carboard selling? There are replicas available for 10 dollars and should not be that different since they are simple.

EDIT: Anyone using the Google Cardboard?

'Tis epic!

https://www.google.com/get/cardboard/

[Gansan]

That looks like some stereo vision slide viewers available during my school days in the seventies (stereopticons?) - imported, of course. The views used to be stunning.

[acurafan]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Usage habits might change with a screen that is big enough to read. Time will tell.

Now you can read and post from the Team-BHP app on your phone I thought you were big data user as you looked for future proofing. Given what you described, I don't think you will be disappointed with 3G speed !!

[sachinj12]

Guys, need help.

I am looking for a stop-gap arrangement phone for a couple of months. It need not necessarily be an android; a windows phone will do to. My basic requirements are call quality/battery/whatsapp/facebook/basic web surfing and e-mails (yahoo and gmail app). I will be relocating to Chicago and it is very important that the phone must be functional in the USA until I buy a new one during the sales. Keeping these in mind, what would you folks suggest?

Budget: As less as possible. I was considering the Moto E 1st gen ( does it work in the US?)

Thanks!

[chinmaybaikar]

Google finally announces Offline Google maps with offline turn by turn navigation. Almost everyone has asked for this. Every other navigation app is going downhill.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by acurafan

Now you can read and post from the Team-BHP app on your phone I thought you were big data user as you looked for future proofing. Given what you described, I don't think you will be disappointed with 3G speed !!

Xiami Mi 4i received today. I cancelled my order for a rather nice leather pouch from Flipkart, and ordered a "smart flip" case from Mi themselves. I really love this feature of my wife's Samsung case: no having to push power buttons, just open the cover. Also, it was a lot cheaper, and less than 1/3rd the price of the Samsung case: quality remains to be seen: don't know when it will arrive.

Promotions really work!Or, how I sold my phone-internet life to Airtel.

Included in the "deal" was a free Airtel 4G sim, so I decided to take the 3G sim out of the tablet, and sim-swap it for use in the phone. I would never have done so without the "freebie." And it didn't work. But, by this time, I was set on the idea, and set out on the 20-minute walk to the new, nearby, Airtel showroom, which was empty, because it doesn't even look open yet, and a young woman told me that she would give me a sim that would work, and take me through the SMS-to-121 process to set up the number on it. It worked. The value-less "free"-bie still got me hooked anyway!

The Aircel SIM I actually use for phone calls needed to get micro-ed, and the local AircelI showroom had already told me they charged money for the swap. Having come home with my Airtel Sim, I went out again, to our local phone-repair man, and asked him to cut down my SIM. He said, no, it is very old, I can't, I have to replace it. It is, actually: over ten years old!

So I trundled back home, printed out some ID, and trundled back out to Aircel.

This mobile phone stuff has been keeping me fit today! I've walked more than in the past week!

Umm, ahh... yes... The Phone!

(Get to the point, man!)

It's very nice. The Samsung E5 does beat it on looks, largely due the metal (or metal-effect?) edge. The plain white plastic of the white M4i looks, err, plain and white. Black would be a lot smarter (but the offer was Any colour you like, as long as it's white). The back would have looked better in black too, but it really doesn't matter because it is going in a flip case. The texture of all that white is actually good: it does not feel as if it is trying to slip out of the hand: it feels nice. Just the right degree of mat (matt? Matte?).

The front is acres of shiny black, apart from a modest, and perhaps slightly stylish even, "mi" trademark in one corner.

It's black and shiny, except, that is, for the fingerprints. It does seem to show the greese more than the Defy+, which used to amaze me for not doing so.

Now, about using it. Well, I haven't much! It took hours to download a rom update. They certainly are not doing the apparent network performance any favours with their servers.

It did not, like my tablet, back in December, immediately sync all my apps and much of the data. In fact, the Google Store website didn't even register its existence until after I had installed an app from the phone itself. Mixed blessing: The 16Gb really does not give much headroom, and it really was better to load the apps as needed.

The day has been devoted to walking and setup. I've barely even looked at a webpage. I made one "ceremonial first" call to Mrs G, even though she was in the house at the time. The sound? Not bad, but I don't think an audiophile would approve.

The camera took a very nice pic of my feet, a good "selfie," and a not-so-good pic of the other side of the room.

Now I have to see if I can get Sygic's data across without having to download three countries' maps yet again!

A final comparison with the E5. The E5 looks as if it cost 50% more. Which it did, so I'm not complaining!

[Amazing]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Xiami Mi 4i received today. I cancelled my order for a rather nice leather pouch from Flipkart, and ordered a "smart flip" case from Mi themselves. I really love this feature of my wife's Samsung case: no having to push power buttons, just open the cover. Also, it was a lot cheaper, and less than 1/3rd the price of the Samsung case: quality remains to be seen: don't know when it will arrive.

congrats on your new Mi4i ...i have also got one. but was not able to get a magnetic flip cover for this.

can you tell me where you have ordered this mi flip case ? i badly need one.

thanks.

[omar]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

After 8 weeks of using the Xperia Z3 Compact

Recommended accessories : Get the magnetic wireless charging dock if possible, it doesn't require the flap to be opened thus becoming incredibly convenient to charge. Its a must for this phone.

Where did you purchase the charging dock from? Couldn't find an official one here.

[Oxy]

Originally Posted by Amazing

congrats on your new Mi4i ...i have also got one. but was not able to get a magnetic flip cover for this.

can you tell me where you have ordered this mi flip case ? i badly need one.

thanks.

http://buy.mi.com/in/item/3151500007

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by omar

Where did you purchase the charging dock from? Couldn't find an official one here.

I never buy anything online as I fear they maybe returned/ refurbished /second hand, it was there in Sony Centre (last piece) so picked it up. They did say that it arrives in limited numbers from Japan. Also bought the Sony PumpX NFC wireless speaker (very satisfactory stereo output and good battery life.)

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Amazing

congrats on your new Mi4i ...i have also got one. but was not able to get a magnetic flip cover for this.

can you tell me where you have ordered this mi flip case ? i badly need one.

thanks.

Originally Posted by Oxy

http://buy.mi.com/in/item/3151500007

Yep, that's the one .

Here's a few complaints: there's always going to be some when shifting to a new system!

I did try MIUI on my Defy+ and then Cyanogenmod, combined with Apex Launcher. I much preferred the latter, and stuck with it. I am not terribly fond of MIUI by comparison. I don't lie not having the app "drawer" (I have now: there's an app). I prefer a minimal homescreen setup, with as few screens as possible, and a fairly sparse arrangement of app icons.

Despite stating in the settings that SIM-2 is for dialling, the dial screen still gives me a choice: I want never to use SIM-1 for dialing/sms. I had not even realised that the choice was there on the messaging screen, and was unknowingly sending via the wrong SIM. That screwed up the bank app installation, because it was getting confirmation on the wrong number.

In some ways, I should have taken the advice I gave to my wife (she didn't either!) which was to buy a Zenphone, because the Asus interface would be identical with her tab. It is a clearer, simpler interface, and the Asus-specific apps are actually quite good.

There is plenty of customisability, and quite a plethora of hidden settings too. One day, sometime, there should be a root-enabled developer rom too: no doubt that will have many more.

I have not made the Airtel data connection work. I left it too late in the day for another walk. I do seem to be getting fairly slow wifi connection.

We have to learn to live together

[omar]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

I never buy anything online as I fear they maybe returned/ refurbished /second hand, it was there in Sony Centre (last piece) so picked it up. They did say that it arrives in limited numbers from Japan. Also bought the Sony PumpX NFC wireless speaker (very satisfactory stereo output and good battery life.)

Lucky you! Will have to enquire at stores here. What was the cost if I you don't mind divulging?