I wouldnt worry too much about Samsung Pay. It's nice in the short term but magnetic strip technology is dead in the long run. The credit card chip mandate goes in force in October and I expect to see a rapid increase in merchants requiring transactions to utilize the cell phone chip instead of the magnetic strip once October rolls around. I imagine many of those new chip terminals will come with NFC support so google wallet will see a rapid increase in support. Samsung Pay is designed to work on either NFC or by simulating a magnetic stripe reading. I cant say for sure but I imagine the latter will get phased out since credit card companies wont reimburse fraudulent magnetic stripe transactions starting in October.
I need your help choosing a cell phone. Alright guys, my wife and I both need new cell phones. The biggest problem with mine (Lumia 920 [AT&T]): no one can hear me on phone calls! It's so frustrating. No one can hear me very well at all. I don't know if that's a problem with the phone or with AT&T, but either way I can't stand it. I need to be able to make calls from inside buildings. The biggest problem with my wife's phone (Lumia 820 [Verizon]): she's dropped it a million times and it looks terrible. Our needs in a phone are the same: We're looking to get Android phones We need to be able to call and have the other person on the end hear us We don't need something top-of-the-line; we just use our phones for calling, texting, internet browsing, occasional video watching, and occasional phone games. Prefer a nice camera and good battery life (who doesn't?) Would like to have wireless charging (like I do with the 920) but could sacrifice that if I have to I would much prefer to buy the phone off contract - if that really is the most cost effective option in the long-run. If the cost (over 2 years) balances out then I wouldn't mind signing a contract because we will have these phones for at least 2-3 years. In either scenario we would like to keep the upfront cost around $300-$350 per phone. Like I said earlier, we don't need something top of the line, but... I don't want a phone that will be a fossil in 2 years either. TIA!
The Lumia 820 and 920 (the 920 in particular) has a reputation for poor signal strength. I'm not surprised you're having issues on calls with the 920. I haven't played with the 820 so I can't speak for that one but those older Nokia phones had general call quality issues. They fixed all of those issues in the newer lumia phones but that's moot since you want an android phone. Are you going to be sticking with your current arrangement (one phone on AT&T and one on Verizon)? If you're going to buy a phone outright, I'd suggest getting on a no-contract plan. Otherwise you're paying for phone subsidies that you wont be taking advantage of since you bought your phone ahead of time. Someone posted the deal in the hot deals section, but I'd really take a look at the LG G2. The specs are still pretty close to top of the line. The camera is decent and the battery life is above average. It's already on Android 5.0 so its still getting quick software updates. Best Buy is selling the Verizon version for $200 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/lg-g2-4...=8575135&loc=0&id=1219061252155&skuId=1723195 Best Buy is also selling the AT&T version for $1.00 if you sign a contract which if you're planning on signing a contract anyway, is the way to go. You can also technically use the Verizon phone on AT&T since Verizon phones come with unlocked GSM radios. However, it lacks the bands for AT&T's lte network so you'd be stuck on HSPA. You can also buy an unlocked GSM model with AT&T's bands but Best Buy is charging $319. I dont think you'll find a better $200 phone (or even a $300 phone).
this phone is now on preorder for only 199 http://www.alcatelonetouch.us/ALCATEL-ONETOUCH-IDOL-SMARTPHONE-Unlocked/dp/B00V3U6FFK I ordered one
Considering rooting my s6 edge. As much as the bloatware that is gone, this phone is a RAM hog. I'm typically at 79-86% ram usage. On a 3 gb RAM setup, that's not much wiggle room and I'm getting lag once in a while. Not too happy about that. It seems like my s4 lagged less.
or consider doing this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/tmobile-galaxy-s6-edge/help/flash-stock-firmware-using-samsung-t3079176 difference is definitely noticeable. the problem is that it's a pain trying to get this solution downloaded (read the entire thread). it took me a few days to get it to work. tmobes until today. then att.
Seems a little time consuming but worth the try. Video is easy to follow. I used smartswitch app to transfer all my data from s4 to s6.
Holy Lord. I read the entire thread. What a nightmare. Is phone bricked until you get the DL complete?
It's Android 5.0 with its memory leak that's the problem. OEMs should have skipped 5.0.2 and went straight to 5.1 where the issue was addressed. Even though it's still there but not as bad as 5.0.
lol. no, but for a lot of folks it stops at 51%. i was one of the lucky ones. ☺ i bricked mine for an hour, but only because i used a janky cable. btw, the american version of smart switch is not the same as the international (the us version transfers data while the int'l is used for recovering purposes). so if you go this route use the links provided in the op.
Been using an iPhone 6 plus for the last 2 months. Had to check for the name of an old app on the 4s. Mannnnn... Couldn't believe how tiny that thing is. Is this the way b****es feel after hooking up with a bbc?!
Take a look at Cricket (which AT&T bought out and turned into its budget brands) They offer only month to month plans (so no device subsidies) but its on the same network and is far cheaper than AT&T's offerings. The only catch is that they limit your download speeds to 8 mb/s which in all honesty is plenty for streaming video. Otherwise check out TMobile/MetroPCS. Since you have a GSM phone you can just bring it over to one of those two (MetroPCS is TMobile's budget brand like Cricket is for AT&T). You can also "test drive" an iphone 5s on TMobile's network for a week for free to try it out. I'd recommend doing that just to see if it works for your daily use. Sprint has some nice offerings today too but I have no idea how their network is in Houston. I'd suggest Verizon but if you hate AT&T's plans, you'll probably hate Verizon's too.
