[Chetan_Rao]

One thing I'm really curious to know from the early Marshmallow adopters is battery consumption specific to Android/Google Services.

5.x is horrible in that regard. My previous phone (Galaxy S3) on 4.3 would barely lose 2-3% overnight with data turned off. My Moto G3 on 5.1.1 in comparison loses almost the same per hour, and Android/Google Services are always top of the battery-hog list. Given all the complaining I found by googling (the irony), it seems an issue with the OS itself, though nothing that I can't manage. I can get a full day out of my phone even with all these shenanigans.

[mukeshgoel]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

First, they try to put you off doing just that (Why?) by making the default USB mode charge only, but the worst thing is, you can change that horrible thing called MTP (thanks microsoft) and see the internal memory on your PC, but the SD card looks empty.

I can access internal & external memory in MTP mode on my Win10 computer. I am using Marshmallow on Moto X Style.

Originally Posted by ampere

If its one or two files, I use Air Droid. Works like a charm on the home WiFi.

Unfortunately, Air Droid can not access external micro sd card on Marshmallow. I had to transfer few pics but it was not accessible. A little bit of googling confirmed that it does not work Marshmallow.

Quoting from Airdroid forum:

Android 6.0 needs additional code in AirDroid to grant access to the external "SD CARD", so the user has to confirm the access at least once for the application. There is no known way to get it working, until devs are doing the described, additional code for it. The way accessing the external "SD CARD" simply went to a complete other direction at Marshmallow (Android 6.0).

[ampere]

Originally Posted by mukeshgoel

Unfortunately, Air Droid can not access external micro sd card on Marshmallow. I had to transfer few pics but it was not accessible. A little bit of googling confirmed that it does not work Marshmallow.

I configured the SD card as internal memory. Since anyway we are not going to take it out anyway. Also need check if snaps or on the SD card. I keep all music on the SD card (I popped in 64GB).

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by mukeshgoel

I can access internal & external memory in MTP mode on my Win10 computer. I am using Marshmallow on Moto X Style.

Might be me, Linux, or any combination, then.

I'm happy with the wireless way.


One thing on batteries: when I plug the phone into my Aukey charger, the screen tells me that turbo charge is happening. And it does seem very fast.

[phamilyman]

In other news, I came across this little baby which should be very interesting for those photographically inclined and who can live with a bit of bloat!
http://www.flipkart.com/htc-desire-8...medcxdybzacdrz

Front camera is ultrapixel and rear is 13 MP with optical image stabilization. Both of them in 20k INR! The processor is a mediatek which means middling performance which seems to be the one issue!

[mukul32]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

In other news, I came across this little baby which should be very interesting for those photographically inclined and who can live with a bit of bloat!
http://www.flipkart.com/htc-desire-8...medcxdybzacdrz

Front camera is ultrapixel and rear is 13 MP with optical image stabilization. Both of them in 20k INR! The processor is a mediatek which means middling performance which seems to be the one issue!

Similarly, for those into adventure along with photography, the Galaxy S5 is now available for just ~21k. It has a 16 MP ISOCELL camera with phase detection autofocus and a fairly large sensor, which is outstanding in its own right. The front camera is just 2MP but still quite good for it. Plus water and dust proof and SD card slot. And it comes with a fingerprint scanner, and will be updated to Marshmallow soon. So at least for the next year, it'll rock the latest software. Which is as much support as a typical MediaTek device gets anyway.
Only, instead of 'a bit of bloat', there is the whole of Touchwiz to live with!

[sunsetorange]

Originally Posted by mukul32

Similarly, for those into adventure along with photography, the Galaxy S5 is now available for just ~21k. It has a 16 MP ISOCELL camera with phase detection autofocus and a fairly large sensor, which is outstanding in its own right. The front camera is just 2MP but still quite good for it. Plus water and dust proof and SD card slot. And it comes with a fingerprint scanner, and will be updated to Marshmallow soon. So at least for the next year, it'll rock the latest software. Which is as much support as a typical MediaTek device gets anyway.
Only, instead of 'a bit of bloat', there is the whole of Touchwiz to live with!

The S5 is on sale @ Flipkart for 17999 with an exchange offer thrown in. A sweet deal!

[anky]

I bought the s5 in the last Flipkart sale this October at 19k . Great phone and the touchwiz does not lag at all (at least for me) . The problem with the s5 is no 4g support and that might be a deal breaker for some .

[Behemoth]

Got myself a new One plus X (Champagne Gold) - the phone is an absolute looker in this colour with the front and back being white and the side being metallic gold colour. The price is 16,999 and for that price it seems very good value for money. (Wife completely shot down the idea of my getting a Lenovo K4 Note!).

Been playing with it since the past 12 hours now and looks really good. Compared to my previous Samsung Note 3 neo, it seems ages ahead. Oxygen OS is also almost stock android with minimal changes so keeps things light and snappy. Only initial apprehension is on the battery life as it has a 2525 mAH battery vs the 3100 mAH battery on the Note 3 Neo, so battery life will be less.
I really liked the 5 Inch form factor and the reduced weight 138Gm against the Note 3 neo which had a 5.5 Inch screen and was around 168 Gm (IIRC!)

The phone is really sleek and slippery and thankfully it comes with a silicone back case. If you don't use the case, it is so slippery that it slides down from anything even at a miniscule angle (<10 degrees) and it is as if it floats over surfaces with no resistance! The design language is very nice and very close to the Iphone 6S, but with a 5 Inch screen.

Regards,
Behemoth

[mukul32]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Got myself a new One plus X (Champagne Gold).

Congrats! Great phone, that. And even more than the build, the best thing about that phone is the power under the hood. Snapdragon 801 with 3 gigs of RAM is easily the best on any device under 20k. In fact, that's what we had on 40-50k phones in 2014! The way it will hold on to apps in memory and cut down on processing times as compared to a Samsung will alone be worth it.
As for the battery life, it's only till the Marshmallow update arrives. Then, Doze will make sure the battery stays up really well on standby. And the effect is only more pronounced on smaller batteries. Nexus 5 users for example have shown off horizontal battery graphs for standby periods.
Only a small caveat is that OxygenOS is practically a custom ROM that only OnePlus support officially. So it might have some small bugs here and there. So reboot and clear the cache from storage settings once a while, and install any little software update that comes up, to keep it trouble-free.

Originally Posted by anky

I bought the s5 in the last Flipkart sale this October at 19k . Great phone and the touchwiz does not lag at all (at least for me) . The problem with the s5 is no 4g support and that might be a deal breaker for some .

Absolutely. Also, the Exynos octa procesor that doesn't perform exactly as well as the Snapdragon 801 on the Western S5. And absolutely pathetic custom support due to the Exynos. In fact, if Samsung would've sold the Snapdragon S5 here, and released all the source code promptly for custom developers, it would've become a custom-ROM user's dream!
It comes in extremely cheap, has removable battery, SD card slot (which are huge huge huge bonuses), a fingerprint sensor just when AOSP adopted it, and a wide and reliable service network if anything goes wrong. Rooting Samsungs via Odin is also a cakewalk. And Samsung flagships tend to get really popular as well. So lots of users and support for testing. Perfect package.
Add on top of that waterproofing and a great camera, and it gets only better!

[poloman]

Lenovo going to phase out or kill Motorola brand. I think this is a decision which is going to backfire. There is still lot of love left for the Moto brand and people are not going to switch loyalty to a brand like Lenovo so easily.

[civic-dk]

Originally Posted by mukul32

Well, the official ROM's do have it smooth and there's usually almost no chance of going wrong. However, do see that you have the bootloader unlocked, and latest version of a compatible recovery installed. The G3 is a king device with developers, and surely, both Philz and TWRP recoveries must be available for it.

Thanks a ton, Mukul. The update on G3 is that I reset the phone, but the problem of abrupt restarts continues. As for rooting and installing Custom ROM, my son developed cold feet and was not willing to try it out as he found the process quite cumbersome.

On further googling I found that many G3 users solved this problem with a battery replacement, so I have ordered Anker battery from Amazon. If that also doesn't solve the problem, then Android M is my last hope (whenever it gets released for G3).

These days, I am back to using my earlier phone (Note 2, which I had kept as a backup for the rainy day). Feels big, heavy and not so great (in terms of screen and clarity) after using G3 for more than an year now.

[mukul32]

Originally Posted by civic-dk

Thanks a ton, Mukul. The update on G3 is that I reset the phone, but the problem of abrupt restarts continues. As for rooting and installing Custom ROM, my son developed cold feet and was not willing to try it out as he found the process quite cumbersome.

On further googling I found that many G3 users solved this problem with a battery replacement, so I have ordered Anker battery from Amazon. If that also doesn't solve the problem, then Android M is my last hope (whenever it gets released for G3).

These days, I am back to using my earlier phone (Note 2, which I had kept as a backup for the rainy day). Feels big, heavy and not so great (in terms of screen and clarity) after using G3 for more than an year now.

Oh, that's a bit sad to hear. My dad uses a Note 2 as well. It's very big, but the battery goes on and on. Also, I just saw that you live in Hyderabad. That's the same city as GeekyRanjit, ala Ranjit Kumar, the smartphone reviewer! Some coincidence!

BTW, if the Note 2 is lying as your secondary phone, that device also has some pretty amazing custom development. Once you are back to the G3, the old giant can be pushed straight to Marshmallow from Kitkat if you wish. Stable CM13 builds are up for that one as well. And in this case, flashing the recovery is an absolute cakewalk via Odin.

[Chetan_Rao]

Woke up this morning to a Android M update notification on my Moto G3.

I was already skeptical about a few changes, and reading the release notes just make me more so. They've removed or restricted quite a few Moto features (Ambient display is now missing, so is Moto Migrate among other things). Moto Assist has been tweaked to be far more complicated, not to mention the shenanigans with the sound adjust menu.

I'm sticking with 5.1.1 for now.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

One thing I'm really curious to know from the early Marshmallow adopters is battery consumption specific to Android/Google Services.

I got my Moto X style with 5,x and migrated to Marshmallow soon after. BAtter consumption is far better. Yes, with data off it is about 3% or so overnight.

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Woke up this morning to a Android M update notification on my Moto G3.

I was already skeptical about a few changes, and reading the release notes just make me more so. They've removed or restricted quite a few Moto features (Ambient display is now missing, so is Moto Migrate among other things). Moto Assist has been tweaked to be far more complicated, not to mention the shenanigans with the sound adjust menu.

My Moto X Style moved to Marshmallow very soon after I bought it. I am quite happy with it. No issues so far. It is one of the best and most stable x.0's I have seen.