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Android |OT4| I/O Silver

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Decided I don't want to wait after all. I can always sell my new phone and scrape some money together if I really want to upgrade sooner. Hello Xperia Z3 Compact Orange.

I'm turning my life upside down, orange phone
JzKGOjM.png

That's h.o.t.
 
Hey AndroidGAF, I'm back with another weird request. I'm looking for a top-end phone AND tablet (I want to buy two separate devices, phablet-sized phones are OK too) that runs stock Android so I can get OS updates as soon as they come out. The catch? They need to support MHL/HDMI/Slimport; need non-wifi HDMI-based TV out. The Nexus 6 and 9 don't support any sort of output save for mirroring via Chromecast (etc), so they're non-starters. I know the 5 meets these needs, but it's a bit dated at this point. Is there a phone I'm not considering? Are there even any tablet options that meet my needs?
 

Jeevez

Member
Hey AndroidGAF, I'm back with another weird request. I'm looking for a top-end phone AND tablet (I want to buy two separate devices, phablet-sized phones are OK too) that runs stock Android so I can get OS updates as soon as they come out. The catch? They need to support MHL/HDMI/Slimport; need non-wifi HDMI-based TV out. The Nexus 6 and 9 don't support any sort of output save for mirroring via Chromecast (etc), so they're non-starters. I know the 5 meets these needs, but it's a bit dated at this point. Is there a phone I'm not considering? Are there even any tablet options that meet my needs?

The 2013 Nexus 7 has slimport HDMI out through the micro USB connection. The nexus 5 uses that output as well. Nexus 10 has micro HDMI output. Not sure any higher end options that would support this.
 

Noema

Member
You are a fool if you think lollipop runs better that kitkat.

I must be a fool because Lollipop runs quite a bit better on my Moto G than Kitkat. I'm talking about overall responsiveness, fluidity of animations, time it takes for apps to launch, random hitches, system memory footprint, how much RAM individual apps take, how often apps get flushed off memory, how often Swiftkey crashes (all the time in kitkat, never in lollipop) how often I get launcher redraws, etc. On kitkat, the lockscreen control widget for Spotify would crash all the time since it ran out of memory. Very annoying since that's the process that allows you to pause music using headphones. Ir hasn't crashed once in almost a month with Lollipop.

This is what memory usage looks like on 5.0.1


I rarely had over 100MB available on kitkat at any given moment. And when you are on 1GB of RAM, every little byte counts.

ART is faster than dalvik and it uses less memory. That's not an opinion.

It might not be as noticeable on high end phones, since you can throw powerful hardware at any software and it'll run ok, but on mid to low range devices kit kat is not a very pleasant experience. It's a memory hog.
 
I'm intrigued by the HTC One M9. Excited to see what they bring cause the two biggest deal breakers for me for that series of phones was the horrific camera and the stupid ass top-mounted power button. I could do without the speakers but oh well. Will be interested to see how the phone turns out.
 

manfestival

Member
Not sure if I want to go back to non forward speakers. I just love having the sound directed at me. It can even be a lower volume but I am happy the sound is directed at me.
 
The 2013 Nexus 7 has slimport HDMI out through the micro USB connection. The nexus 5 uses that output as well. Nexus 10 has micro HDMI output. Not sure any higher end options that would support this.
Thank you, kind of what I was afraid of. Thinking I should just back off of the Lollipop / non-customization requirement and just go biggest and baddest I can find with wired HDMI out.
 
What do you guys use your phone speakers for that makes it such an important feature for you? I only use it for notifications, so the quality never bothered me all that much.
 

Sch1sm

Member
What do you guys use your phone speakers for that makes it such an important feature for you? I only use it for notifications, so the quality never bothered me all that much.

Sometimes I put people on speakerphone. Other times I'm watching videos or listening to music. In my case I can only wear headphones for so long before my right ear starts screwing with me, so I need speakers.
 

Linius

Member
What do you guys use your phone speakers for that makes it such an important feature for you? I only use it for notifications, so the quality never bothered me all that much.

I feel the same way. I'm one of those old school music nerds who still walks around with a seperate device for music. So except for a Youtube video every now and then and for notifications I don't use the speakers of my phone. I want to be decent, but I don't need fancy boomsound and what else they're marketing these days.
 

Reckoner

Member
Decided I don't want to wait after all. I can always sell my new phone and scrape some money together if I really want to upgrade sooner. Hello Xperia Z3 Compact Orange.

I'm turning my life upside down, orange phone
JzKGOjM.png

That seems very patriotic of you!
 

Mindwipe

Member
Anyone got any experience trying to track down the source of a 1013 Audiomix wakelock?

There doesn't seem to be any way to track down it's origin, and it's keeping my phone awake for 50% of the time.
 
I must be a fool because Lollipop runs quite a bit better on my Moto G than Kitkat. I'm talking about overall responsiveness, fluidity of animations, time it takes for apps to launch, random hitches, system memory footprint, how much RAM individual apps take, how often apps get flushed off memory, how often Swiftkey crashes (all the time in kitkat, never in lollipop) how often I get launcher redraws, etc. On kitkat, the lockscreen control widget for Spotify would crash all the time since it ran out of memory. Very annoying since that's the process that allows you to pause music using headphones. Ir hasn't crashed once in almost a month with Lollipop.

This is what memory usage looks like on 5.0.1



I rarely had over 100MB available on kitkat at any given moment. And when you are on 1GB of RAM, every little byte counts.

ART is faster than dalvik and it uses less memory. That's not an opinion.

It might not be as noticeable on high end phones, since you can throw powerful hardware at any software and it'll run ok, but on mid to low range devices kit kat is not a very pleasant experience. It's a memory hog.

Weird. I have never seen lollipop use that little of ram even after a fresh boot.

Also, I should have mentioned when I am comparing I am talking about KitKat using ART and not dalvik. IMO KitKat runs much better on ART than dalvik.
 
I'm glad that this year is the year of (good) fingerprint sensors for android (hopefully good). Only really notable thing I'll miss from my iphone.
 

Linius

Member
I'm glad that this year is the year of (good) fingerprint sensors for android (hopefully good). Only really notable thing I'll miss from my iphone.

What exactly does it provide? I know it's the new hype for smartphones, but I can't see how it's something I need. But I'd like to know :p
 
What exactly does it provide? I know it's the new hype for smartphones, but I can't see how it's something I need. But I'd like to know :p
Firstly, no one wants to type gaddamn passwords or do patterns every single time they unlock their phone. On the iphone 6 it's near instant, press the home button and keep your finger there and boom done.

The other really big benefit is the functionality it provides OTHER activities. Like payment, also password apps that a lot of people use, and so on. It's super secure and easy to as hell to use when done right. It only helps. Third party developers will find lots of beneficial ways to use it.
 
Firstly, no one wants to type gaddamn passwords or do patterns every single time they unlock their phone. On the iphone 6 it's near instant, press the home button and keep your finger there and boom done.

The other really big benefit is the functionality it provides OTHER activities. Like payment, also password apps that a lot of people use, and so on. It's super secure and easy to as hell to use when done right. It only helps. Third party developers will find lots of beneficial ways to use it.

That sounds great. How well does it work with on-screen keys?
 

Linius

Member
I don't mind doing my pattern to be honest. But I can see how it's more convenient. Guess once you've had it you don't want to go back. As for payment and stuff, I'm kinda old fashioned. I don't even have a banking app, it's just too leaky for me. Interesting to see what third party developers come up with though. It's still fairly new so lots of possibilities.
 
I like pattern lock the best. I don't care for or won't a finger print sensor on my devices, but if it's there and I decide to one day use it, it needs to be embedded into the bottom bezel of a phone or on the back where the index finger rests. No swiping and no terrible physical home buttons either. God I hate physical home buttons. They're annoying as hell.
 
That sounds great. How well does it work with on-screen keys?


I don't mind doing my pattern to be honest. But I can see how it's more convenient. Guess once you've had it you don't want to go back. As for payment and stuff, I'm kinda old fashioned. I don't even have a banking app, it's just too leaky for me. Interesting to see what third party developers come up with though. It's still fairly new so lots of possibilities.
the iphone doesn't even store any credit card info or anything at all on the device itself with apple pay. I'm assuming google will do it the same way....hopefully.

I like pattern lock the best. I don't care for or won't a finger print sensor on my devices, but if it's there and I decide to one day use it, it needs to be embedded into the bottom bezel of a phone or on the back where the index finger rests. No swiping and no terrible physical home buttons either. God I hate physical home buttons. They're annoying as hell.
I was similar but once you try it and it's implemented well it's really hard to go back. You shall see.
 
What do you guys use your phone speakers for that makes it such an important feature for you? I only use it for notifications, so the quality never bothered me all that much.

Speaker phone and podcasts while I'm playing video games or something.

Front facing, good quality speakers are probably last on my list of preferred features (behind removable battery, expandable memory, long lasting battery, etc.), but whenever I use my phone's back facing speaker and need to cup my hand to point the sound towards me (if I'm watching a video) I always find it a little annoying.
 
Hey AndroidGAF, I'm back with another weird request. I'm looking for a top-end phone AND tablet (I want to buy two separate devices, phablet-sized phones are OK too) that runs stock Android so I can get OS updates as soon as they come out. The catch? They need to support MHL/HDMI/Slimport; need non-wifi HDMI-based TV out. The Nexus 6 and 9 don't support any sort of output save for mirroring via Chromecast (etc), so they're non-starters. I know the 5 meets these needs, but it's a bit dated at this point. Is there a phone I'm not considering? Are there even any tablet options that meet my needs?

wtf? just get a Chromecast and just do the damn thing the Google way.
 

Bboy AJ

My dog was murdered by a 3.5mm audio port and I will not rest until the standard is dead
Hey AndroidGAF, I'm back with another weird request. I'm looking for a top-end phone AND tablet (I want to buy two separate devices, phablet-sized phones are OK too) that runs stock Android so I can get OS updates as soon as they come out. The catch? They need to support MHL/HDMI/Slimport; need non-wifi HDMI-based TV out. The Nexus 6 and 9 don't support any sort of output save for mirroring via Chromecast (etc), so they're non-starters. I know the 5 meets these needs, but it's a bit dated at this point. Is there a phone I'm not considering? Are there even any tablet options that meet my needs?
What why
 

RedFyn

Member
I don't care for or won't a finger print sensor on my devices, but if it's there and I decide to one day use it, it needs to be embedded into the bottom bezel of a phone or on the back where the index finger rests. No swiping and no terrible physical home buttons either. God I hate physical home buttons. They're annoying as hell.
I dont lock my phone but id like a fingerprint sensor. It definitely needs to be on the back though. My bottom bezel needs to have a speaker and nothing else.

What do you guys use your phone speakers for that makes it such an important feature for you? I only use it for notifications, so the quality never bothered me all that much.
I prefer speakers to headphones; alway have. If I'm at home and it has audio I prefer to use my speakers. It's much more comfortable.
 
What exactly does it provide? I know it's the new hype for smartphones, but I can't see how it's something I need. But I'd like to know :p

it provides a convenient way for law enforcement to get into your device since they can't make you give up a password because it's protected speech, but they CAN get your fingerprints.
 

UFO

Banned
I'm starting to wonder if it's worth waiting until March for the new crop of flagships or if I should just bite the bullet and buy a Z3 now. Or if I should get an
iphone 6
.
 
That home button is housing a supposed fingerprint reader/scanner.

i can't wait for Apple to move the industry forward when they adopt 32GB standard. no doubt that's why they switched to 16/64/128 last time. prep time for 32 standard and a drop to 16 on previous gen instead of a drop to 8 now that iOS is getting so beefy and feature packed...
 
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