Month: August 2016

This post is about the final chapter of my quest for the right smartphone in August of this year.  The purchase has been made and the honeymoon is in full swing.  I have purchased the Google Nexus 6P.

Droid Turbo 2 > iPhone 5 > Nexus 6P

Originally I was going to purchase the new Moto Z Droid Force and start “modding” it with accessories.  However, the pricing for the Moto Z was not attractive.  Gone are the days of the “affordable” (and customizable) Moto X.  The Moto Z Droid Force (64 GB) I wanted was $770 not including accessories.  Unfortunately Best Buy wanted to sell me the 32 GB version for $800.  Yes I wanted to retire my Droid Turbo 2, but this was getting seriously expensive.

I think it was through an advertisement in an e-mail that I was alerted to the special promotional price of $400 for a Google Nexus 6P (64 GB).  I literally stayed up for two hours past my bedtime reading all about the reviews and life with the Nexus 6P.  Originally when the device launched it cost $650 making it not affordable, as well as being manufacturered by Huawei.  I was not excited about giving my money to a foreign company.  However, now that Motorola was owned by Lenovo, I officially decided to “pick my poison”.

After using the device for a few days now, I am very happy with its speed, simplicity, and fingerprint reader.  The camera is very impressive so far as well.  I don’t expect to be impressed after a year of apps and updates slow it all down, but for now I can finally stop worrying about my smartphone.  I am still searching for the right case to protect the (breakable) screen but in the meantime a nice matte Skinomi protects it from fingerprints and body oil.

Thanks for reading my thoughts.

This is a continuation of my previous post regarding my smartphone experiences of July and August of this year.

Yes, I said it.  For 1 and a half weeks, I used a fully-functioning Apple iPhone 5.  Sure, I wish it could have been a new iPhone 6S, but for being free I cannot complain.  I have used iPhone’s before and supported the devices for many years in my personal and professional life.  This was the first time I had an extended usage duration with the whole Apple ecosystem.

I am going to confirm what I have been saying for literally years: I respect Apple and what the company has done to the smartphone world, however it is simply not the device for me.

The iPhone is simple, easy to use, (for the most part) reliable and safe, and very close-minded.  Yes I can accomplish most of the same goals I could on Android, but I had to do these tasks a certain way.  It was satisfying to know that my unofficial review of the iPhone device that I have been reporting for years has been confirmed with actual use.  I almost thought to myself it was a poorly-executed and copied BlackBerry ecosystem, but highly successful.  Most people harshly criticize BlackBerry for forcing tasks a certain way, but iPhone is just as guilty.  Meanwhile, simply saying, Android allows for so much more unique configurations and commands.

There is one thing I definitely enjoyed about the iPhone 5 and that was its size.  I could easily operate it with one hand and it was very comfortable to hold, even if it was only glass and metal and had sharp lines all over it.  Sometimes I miss the simplicity and effectiveness of a flip-phone and the iPhone 5 had similar qualities of dimensions that could help ease the transition from a simple device to a smartphone.

Every now and then when I become so frustrated with Android and the fragmentation of the ecosystem, I romanced the idea of abandoning ship and purchasing a new Apple iPhone.  This quick fling with the opposing team has solidified me in Android.  Sure, it may be much more complex and difficult to setup and backup and maintain, but Android simply does more.

The past month has definitely been a difficult month for smartphones.  It all started out when I purchased my Motorola Droid Turbo 2 shortly after launch day last year.  The phone was marketed as having a “shatterproof display” and even carried a dedicated 4-year warranty exclusively for the display if you found a way to damage it.  I quickly found out that even though most people have said it’s a marketing gimmick, the screen indeed does not break.  It has been the first phone I have carried without a case and while the phone itself suffered bumps and bruises, the screen was flawless.

Unfortunately while the screen was flawless, the internal parts were not.  After a long honeymoon period, the phone began shutting off randomly, then always when it fell on the ground.  Then more frustratingly it sometimes did not power back on immediately.  This left me in a panic a few times as I was left without communication.  Fortunately I had my ever-reliable BlackBerry to help me through a few sticky situations.

Contacting Motorola (not Verizon), I obtained a replacement new device (Moto-Maker) and vowed to treat this phone with utmost respect and would not let accidental falls happen, no matter how durable the screen is.  Much to my dismay, the phone still shut down and rebooted on its own, and had difficulty starting back up.  The longest it was down was four days (with the battery charged, if you were curious).  Same again, I contacted Motorola and I was sent a new phone.  But here’s the interesting part: For the 1 and a half weeks that my Turbo 2 was inoperable, I used an Apple iPhone 5.

If you want to comment on my Turbo 2 woes and experiences, comment on this post.  For my thoughts about the Apple iPhone, see the next post.