Alternatives to the V²

[No1VIPER]

I finally decided to pull the trigger and ordered a Jiayu S3 Advanced.

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[Cullenator]

I finally decided to pull the trigger and ordered a Jiayu S3 Advanced.

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Awesome! Did you get it pre-rooted? Would love to hear what you think of it after you get it.

 

[No1VIPER]

Awesome! Did you get it pre-rooted? Would love to hear what you think of it after you get it.

Yes it comes pre-rooted. I'll try and do a mini review once I get it and try it out.

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[t3chfan]

Just because I'd been looking forward to getting a new phone since Feb and it doesn't look like I'm ever going to see a V2 in the wild I took an easy option and paid about £75 for the Elephone P6000.
Not that I'm in any way suggesting it is an alternative to the V2, or even that it is anywhere near as good as my Xperia Z3 Compact, I just wanted to buy a phone!

In all honestly I'm gobsmacked at how much you can get for your money these days by going Chinese OEM, sure it is a little rough round the edges (camera quality seems pretty poor) but I could sell my Z3C and be close to £150 up, then wait to see whether the rumoured Z5 Compact is announced in September.

Like I said, it's not an alternative to the V2 in the traditional sense, but it is an interesting curveball.

 

[TonyStark]

It will be interesting to see what the Huawei version of the next Nexus device will bring. Info on it is slowly being leaked.

It looks to be an amazing alternative.

 

[shaxs]

It will be interesting to see what the Huawei version of the next Nexus device will bring. Info on it is slowly being leaked.

It looks to be an amazing alternative.

I think it is going to be tooooooooo big. Im more interested in the LG Nexus supposedly in the works. I think Google learned a lesson only supplying a huge phone (Nexus 6). I think that sold poorly if I understand correctly.

---------- Post added at 10:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:21 AM ----------

Wowy! http://www.elephone.cc/elephone-vowney.html

Windows 10 and android support.... interesting...

 

[hella356]

If there was a 5" version of that elephone, I'd be very interested.

 

[hdtechk]

Wow phone with a battery
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Doog...ide-a-smartphone-and-called-it-HomTom_id72098

 

[Jkteam]

moto x style vs oneplus 2

Hello
I still have my order for the v2 but slowly starting to think about cancelling because of new phones coming
one of the rason i wanted the v2 was all the features you have for the price and the wirless streaming.
anyway i was thinking about the oneplus 2 (if i manage to get an invite) or the moto x style.
i dont like the big screens on both, moto x has sd slot , fast charging, nfc
oneplus2 usb type ios on the camera
non removable batteries (grrr)
both of them have some features but don't have others but i guess for the price they are i am ready to do some comprises
what do you guys think about them?

 

[Sam K]

Hello
I still have my order for the v2 but slowly starting to think about cancelling because of new phones coming
one of the rason i wanted the v2 was all the features you have for the price and the wirless streaming.
anyway i was thinking about the oneplus 2 (if i manage to get an invite) or the moto x style.
i dont like the big screens on both, moto x has sd slot , fast charging, nfc
oneplus2 usb type ios on the camera
non removable batteries (grrr)
both of them have some features but don't have others but i guess for the price they are i am ready to do some comprises
what do you guys think about them?

It really annoys me that almost every high end Android phone has a screen 5.5" and larger with the exception of the Galaxy S6. The new Moto X doesn't have OIS or fingerprint reader and the new OnePlus Two doesn't have fast charging, NFC or microSD memory card slot. Both have compromises but I'd probably choose the Motorola just because they're a more established manufacturer and I wouldn't have to deal with that OnePlus invite system.

I really wish that Motorola had made 2 versions of the Moto X, one with 5.7" screen and the other with a 5" 1080p screen. I never expected them to basically take the Nexus 6, make it slightly smaller, add a couple of features like microSD slot and water resistance and upgrade some components like the processor and camera and launch it as the Moto X.

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[hella356]

Yeah, it's gone from 5', give or take 0.2", as the standard-sized flagship phone & 5.7" or so phablet, to 5.5" as a phone, with many phablets around 6". It's great to see so many choices, but the problem is the concept of a top of the line phone that can be used with one hand seems to have been abandoned. I've still never found a phone more perfectly sized than my Galaxy S4, & the list of potential contenders as a replacement, at least in the US, is now only the S6, to me.

 

[Stijn Maller]

Yeah, it's gone from 5', give or take 0.2", as the standard-sized flagship phone & 5.7" or so phablet, to 5.5" as a phone, with many phablets around 6". It's great to see so many choices, but the problem is the concept of a top of the line phone that can be used with one hand seems to have been abandoned. I've still never found a phone more perfectly sized than my Galaxy S4, & the list of potential contenders as a replacement, at least in the US, is now only the S6, to me.

This analysis is spot on! I want to replace my aging S4 but am unable to due to no suitable devices on the market. The S6 is indeed the only option, but that stupid glass backpanel has put me off buying it. (Feels ackward and I'm sure the phone wouldn't survive many drops either.) So I'm stuck awaiting every flagship anouncement only to come away disappointed every time another phablet hits the market. Luckily the mid range is finally catching up to the S4 specs so I'm hopefull we'll soon have some options. Today's announcement of the Sony Xperia M5 certainly looks interesting! Ticks many of the boxes Saygus did.

 

[Sam K]

Today's announcement of the Sony Xperia M5 certainly looks interesting! Ticks many of the boxes Saygus did.

The Sony Xperia M5 certainly looks like a good option except it doesn't appear to have OIS. The only question I have is the performance of the MediaTek Helio X10 (MT6795) processor. I've always preferred Qualcomm Snapdragon processors but their recent overheating problems with the 810 has made me consider other options. The second link below shows they'll have a model that supports all the US LTE bands, model E5606

http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/phones/xperia-m5/specifications/

http://www-support-downloads.sonymobile.com/e5603/whitepaper_EN_e5603_e5606_e5653_xperia_m5.pdf

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[Stijn Maller]

The Sony Xperia M5 certainly looks like a good option except it doesn't appear to have OIS. The only question I have is the performance of the MediaTek Helio X10 (MT6795) processor. I've always preferred Qualcomm Snapdragon processors but their recent overheating problems with the 810 has made me consider other options. The second link below shows they'll have a model that supports all the US LTE bands, model E5606

http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/phones/xperia-m5/specifications/

http://www-support-downloads.sonymobile.com/e5603/whitepaper_EN_e5603_e5606_e5653_xperia_m5.pdf

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According to http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/phones/xperia-m5/specifications/ there is an image stabilizer, strange that it is not mentioned in that whitepaper. Looks like it's also missing wifi AC though, which makes the device another no go for me. :crying:

 

[Sam K]

Looks like it's also missing wifi AC though, which makes the device another no go for me. :crying:

I'm surprised that the lack of AC WiFi is a deal breaker for you. Why is it so important?

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[Stijn Maller]

I'm surprised that the lack of AC WiFi is a deal breaker for you. Why is it so important?

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Because where I live there is loads of interference from my neighbors, certainly in the 2.4 Ghz spectrum. Since I've taken refuge in the 5 Ghz spectrum by installing an AC router I've seen a dramatic increase in both signal strength and speed on AC capable clients.

Another alternative that I've got my eye on is the HTC One M9 Plus, which releases in europe at the end of the month.

 

[Sam K]

Because where I live there is loads of interference from my neighbors, certainly in the 2.4 Ghz spectrum. Since I've taken refuge in the 5 Ghz spectrum by installing an AC router I've seen a dramatic increase in both signal strength and speed on AC capable clients.

Another alternative that I've got my eye on is the HTC One M9 Plus, which releases in europe at the end of the month.

The Sony Xperia M5 supports 802.11a and 802.11n which means it should be able to connect to your 802.11ac router on the 5 GHz band.

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[hella356]

Lack of AC is a negative, but not a huge one for me. The bigger downsides of the Sony (for me) are only 16GB built-in storage (32GB should be the minimum, even with an SD card); the archaic large bezels - same sized screen as the S4, but a fair amount wider and taller, even than the S6, which has a bigger screen; no replaceable battery; sharper corners than the Samsungs - I briefly had an LG G4 and it was uncomfortable to hold for more than a few seconds; on-screen buttons, which eat up screen real estate. If Samsung had retained the SD/battery of its predecessors in the S6, that would be a slam dunk for me, but at this point I'm just hoping they bring those back in the S7 & keeping my S4 until then, unless something else suitable arises on the market.

 

[Sam K]

Lack of AC is a negative, but not a huge one for me. The bigger downsides of the Sony (for me) are only 16GB built-in storage (32GB should be the minimum, even with an SD card); the archaic large bezels - same sized screen as the S4, but a fair amount wider and taller, even than the S6, which has a bigger screen; no replaceable battery; sharper corners than the Samsungs - I briefly had an LG G4 and it was uncomfortable to hold for more than a few seconds; on-screen buttons, which eat up screen real estate. If Samsung had retained the SD/battery of its predecessors in the S6, that would be a slam dunk for me, but at this point I'm just hoping they bring those back in the S7 & keeping my S4 until then, unless something else suitable arises on the market.

Good points. I keep forgetting that Sony loves the huge bezels. I don't know if they're trying to copy Apple in that respect or they think that's what people want. I don't know anyone that wants a larger phone just to have larger bezels. I need to go do a size comparison of the Xperia M5 and other phones on phonearena or phonescoop.

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[shaxs]

Yeah, it's gone from 5', give or take 0.2", as the standard-sized flagship phone & 5.7" or so phablet, to 5.5" as a phone, with many phablets around 6". It's great to see so many choices, but the problem is the concept of a top of the line phone that can be used with one hand seems to have been abandoned. I've still never found a phone more perfectly sized than my Galaxy S4, & the list of potential contenders as a replacement, at least in the US, is now only the S6, to me.

My feelings exactly! The lg g2 was prefect form factor me. Frame disappointed in the new moto x size.