smartphone choices

[cookiedough]

WE have US cellular and my wifes mini samsung S5 is having touchscreen issues (not as sensitive more fussy touching screen) after 2+ years.  Lady at us cellular suggested doing a factory reset after saving all info on phone to the GMAIL account and then uploading it all back onto phone after doing factory reset and might solve the issue.

Anyone ever had this issue and resolved this way by doing factory reset and is it easy to download to GMAIL and then restore factory setting then upload all contacts/pics back in easy enough?

If that does not work, what is opinions on LG G5 vs. samsung S6 (similar in price) or spend the extra 6 bucks per month for 30 months for the newer and supposedly slightly better samsung S7 as the other choice we prefer out there vs. the other cell phone choices listed (not apple based).

thanks for any input!

[Wizzard]

I have a galaxy s6 edge for over a year and love the phone. Especially like the edge feature.

[baldo]

My wife has the mini S3, so I can't help you there.

I have an S6 going on 2 years now and have been very happy with it.....

Isn't the S7 the burner, literally?

[baldo]

I have a galaxy s6 edge for over a year and love the phone. Especially like the edge feature.

I almost got the Edge, but wasn't sure it was worth it. What do you like about it?

[cookiedough]

called three us cellular stores and 2 of the 3 said they prefer the LG G5 over the samsung S6 although more sold in the samsung so going to see more problems of course.

both are same price per month but the LG G5 has 100 credit until next wednesday or so, minus the 9 dollar insurance plan you have to take for 3 months then can cancel so only up 73 bucks since never do the 9 dollar per month protection plan for lost or stolen or broken.  One store said samsung all the way more durable housing as well, so I doubt many on this board have the LG G5 phone? 

I have had LG flip phones some 2 years ago almost thru past 12 years have owned 3 LG flip phones nothing but indestructible lasting forever no issues, but they were flip phones not smartphones. 

I have a motorola G right now since was cheapest smartphone to get 2 years ago for 9 bucks per month for 24 months.   Wifes samsung s5 mini screen is giving her issues, might try the reboot to factory settings before deciding this weekend?

[hukmut]

Have you done the "turn it off and wait a minute, then turn it back on" trick?

What the heck, it might work!

[wiggydotcom]

My wife has the mini S3, so I can't help you there.

I have an S6 going on 2 years now and have been very happy with it.....

Isn't the S7 the burner, literally?

I believe you are referring to the discontinued(and recalled) Note 7, Baldo.

[Jersey mike]

we're an Apple family. iTouch's, iPads and just a few months ago we all (5 of us) got iphones, the gen 6 version.

I like it, the kids love 'em. good battery life and the other stuff works too. I have a Otter Box to keep mine safe, and they (some company) actually make what called a life proof box that's water proof too. that's the one we got our daughter who is a compulsive breaker.

[Pappy!]

Ditto on Apple products. They just work.
Wife has an iPhone 6 Plus and I have a 6. No issues. Second iPhone for me. Used to use Android phones but since Lesa came along and brought tons of Apple stuff I joined the Apple Army.

[Gavin_Sons]

I have had a galaxy s5 for 3 years now through verizon. Screen is cracked but still works great.  Wife has the s6 and likes mine better. I refuse to pay 35 bucks a month for 2 years for a phone so my next one will be bought off ebay. Probably another s5 as I like it and has good features.

[Robert]

The Apple phone has the easiest Operating system to use. Its very intuitive and easy to do what you need to do. The original intent of design of the operating systems goes a long way in how it operates. The Android system was designed by Google and is open source and is a way to get people to their products not designed for user convenience but for advertising Google products. I personally find the Android system kind of clunky thats why I like Apple phones and pads. No one has mentioned the security of the phone either, Apple does have the best security and you can encrypt the phone and contents making the phone open with a code.

[cookiedough]

I have had a galaxy s5 for 3 years now through verizon. Screen is cracked but still works great.  Wife has the s6 and likes mine better. I refuse to pay 35 bucks a month for 2 years for a phone so my next one will be bought off ebay. Probably another s5 as I like it and has good features.

yah, heard so-so things on s6, but back on topic,  has anyone had a LG smartphone in particular the one out now being LG G5?   Seems most congregate to samsung galaxy either 5,6,7 or soon to be s8.

I have a motorola G is cheapest per month for any smartphone at the time I got it.  I like to be different (and cheap)

Since so-so reviews on s6,  I looked at the better s7 by samsung, just do not like the 200+ bucks more over 2 years in pricing over the near same featured and what I think just as good LG G5.  I had 3 LG flip phones prior and nothing but reliable and good phones, so does LG make good smartphones to last?

[baldo]

My wife has the mini S3, so I can't help you there.

I have an S6 going on 2 years now and have been very happy with it.....

Isn't the S7 the burner, literally?

I believe you are referring to the discontinued(and recalled) Note 7, Baldo.

I believe you're right....thanks...

[Mr Whiskey]

I have a motorola G is cheapest per month for any smartphone at the time I got it.  I like to be different (and cheap)

The Moto G (first gen) was our first smart phone, but I recently killed mine (took it swimming unexpectedly).
Jus' got Moto X Pure/Style (unlocked) at very reasonable price from best buy, can run on any network, zero bloatware, smokin' fast processors, 21mp camera shoots 4k vid & slo-mo's, has sd card slot (32gb phone & jus' installed 64gb sandisk card for music & pics), stereo speakers, still has headphone jack (but supports Near Field Communication), & the best part for us was same operational format as our old Moto G's.
We love 'em

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

I have a motorola G is cheapest per month for any smartphone at the time I got it.  I like to be different (and cheap)

The Moto G (first gen) was our first smart phone, but I recently killed mine (took it swimming unexpectedly).
Jus' got Moto X Pure/Style (unlocked) at very reasonable price from best buy, can run on any network, zero bloatware, smokin' fast processors, 21mp camera shoots 4k vid & slo-mo's, has sd card slot (32gb phone & jus' installed 64gb sandisk card for music & pics), stereo speakers, still has headphone jack (but supports Near Field Communication), & the best part for us was same operational format as our old Moto G's.
We love 'em

Words to live by .... When swimming fully clothed remove expensive devices 

[baldo]

I have a motorola G is cheapest per month for any smartphone at the time I got it.  I like to be different (and cheap)

The Moto G (first gen) was our first smart phone, but I recently killed mine (took it swimming unexpectedly).
Jus' got Moto X Pure/Style (unlocked) at very reasonable price from best buy, can run on any network, zero bloatware, smokin' fast processors, 21mp camera shoots 4k vid & slo-mo's, has sd card slot (32gb phone & jus' installed 64gb sandisk card for music & pics), stereo speakers, still has headphone jack (but supports Near Field Communication), & the best part for us was same operational format as our old Moto G's.
We love 'em

Words to live by .... When swimming fully clothed remove expensive devices 

Looks like it would have been ok if it lived in a shirt pocket....

[Jess Tolbirt]

google camera problems with samsung,, mine will no longer focus for macro shots so i have to back off about 18 inches and then zoom in...thats the only problem i have had with my galaxy s-6

[Wizzard]

I have a galaxy s6 edge for over a year and love the phone. Especially like the edge feature.

I almost got the Edge, but wasn't sure it was worth it. What do you like about it?

Being able to swipe favorites in from the hidden edge. Being able to tell the time in the dark when its laying on the nightstand since time is what I have configured to display on the edge. That edge thing is completely configurable to what you want on it.

[Wizzard]

buying your phone outright is by far cheaper. Just pencil it out on paper. You pay well over a thousand bucks for your phone when you get it added to your plan. Big money maker for the phone companies. I have been buying outright for years.

[Crackerborn]

I had the LG G2 for 3+ years, until the touch pad got completely unusable. I picked up a LG G3 on flea-bay for under $150 to get me through my contract at which time I will upgrade to the LG G7 that has not been released as yet. Make sure you look at the LG volume controls as they are in an unusual place on the phone. I am the only Android user in the family and have never owned a Samsung, but plenty of HTC and LG over the short time I have owned smart phones. (I still believe the phone part is overlooked by most manufacturers.) A soft reset should solve hardware issues (turn it off for 2 minutes or more before powering it back up). The Google cloud back-up is fairly easy but do it on wi-fi not on your data plan.

[3fan4life]

Wife has an S5 active, I have an S7 active.

They are both great phones.

The active line is an AT&T exclusive. 

[cookiedough]

buying your phone outright is by far cheaper. Just pencil it out on paper. You pay well over a thousand bucks for your phone when you get it added to your plan. Big money maker for the phone companies. I have been buying outright for years.

only about 50 bucks or so with us cellular is all.  Plus,  lets say your phone dies in 20 months of your 24 month plan,  you are out that 4 months you paid upfront (about lets say 20 bucks per month installment plan) is my guess and you are eligible for a new phone after 18 of the 24 month contract.  So, in some instances if you do not keep your phone the full 24 months,  it it not cheaper to buy it upfront.

[dreamchaser]

Cookiedough, I have an LG G5 and am reasonably happy with it.  I am not thrilled with Sprint as a provider.  I don't use it for email but its got a really good camera and is not a problem in any way.  I have had mine ever since it first came out.  Take your time and get it on ebay.  Buying through a provider will cost way more than any phone is worth in my ever-ready opinion.

[cookiedough]

Cookiedough, I have an LG G5 and am reasonably happy with it.  I am not thrilled with Sprint as a provider.  I don't use it for email but its got a really good camera and is not a problem in any way.  I have had mine ever since it first came out.  Take your time and get it on ebay.  Buying through a provider will cost way more than any phone is worth in my ever-ready opinion.

thanks for the info on the LG G5, was beginning to think no one had it.  Will see ebay to see if any around.

[cookiedough]

well, black friday deals are coming up and found thru our only us cellular provider able to get reception in our area 500 dollar promo gift cards if buy a samsung s7 phone.  good deal but the catch is no biggie 3 months of 9 dollar per month insurance plan can cancel after that and but the biggie have to turn in your old smartphone as well which wife does not want to do to keep as a backup just in case the new samsung s7 has issues before 2 years or so.

why does us cellular want a 2 year old phone?  To re-stock it and sell as refurbished and make some money off of it I guess? 

There always seems to be some type of catch on deals like these.  Wife and me are arguing since I say if say have 2 year contract with us cellular,  if say after 13 months after 1 year warranty if phone dies, you have to buyout your contract amount plus get another new phone with the monthly plan option BOTH.  Wife says NO,  only continue your monthly payments with new smartphone rate if going that route.  Who is right?

[RainMaker]

well, black friday deals are coming up and found thru our only us cellular provider able to get reception in our area 500 dollar promo gift cards if buy a samsung s7 phone.  good deal but the catch is no biggie 3 months of 9 dollar per month insurance plan can cancel after that and but the biggie have to turn in your old smartphone as well which wife does not want to do to keep as a backup just in case the new samsung s7 has issues before 2 years or so.

why does us cellular want a 2 year old phone?  To re-stock it and sell as refurbished and make some money off of it I guess? 

There always seems to be some type of catch on deals like these.  Wife and me are arguing since I say if say have 2 year contract with us cellular,  if say after 13 months after 1 year warranty if phone dies, you have to buyout your contract amount plus get another new phone with the monthly plan option BOTH.  Wife says NO,  only continue your monthly payments with new smartphone rate if going that route.  Who is right?

I don't see a win if you are right.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

well, black friday deals are coming up and found thru our only us cellular provider able to get reception in our area 500 dollar promo gift cards if buy a samsung s7 phone.  good deal but the catch is no biggie 3 months of 9 dollar per month insurance plan can cancel after that and but the biggie have to turn in your old smartphone as well which wife does not want to do to keep as a backup just in case the new samsung s7 has issues before 2 years or so.

why does us cellular want a 2 year old phone?  To re-stock it and sell as refurbished and make some money off of it I guess? 

There always seems to be some type of catch on deals like these.  Wife and me are arguing since I say if say have 2 year contract with us cellular,  if say after 13 months after 1 year warranty if phone dies, you have to buyout your contract amount plus get another new phone with the monthly plan option BOTH.  Wife says NO,  only continue your monthly payments with new smartphone rate if going that route.  Who is right?

I just tell my wife what I'm going to do and go do it ... You should try that 

[Gavin_Sons]

well, black friday deals are coming up and found thru our only us cellular provider able to get reception in our area 500 dollar promo gift cards if buy a samsung s7 phone.  good deal but the catch is no biggie 3 months of 9 dollar per month insurance plan can cancel after that and but the biggie have to turn in your old smartphone as well which wife does not want to do to keep as a backup just in case the new samsung s7 has issues before 2 years or so.

why does us cellular want a 2 year old phone?  To re-stock it and sell as refurbished and make some money off of it I guess? 

There always seems to be some type of catch on deals like these.  Wife and me are arguing since I say if say have 2 year contract with us cellular,  if say after 13 months after 1 year warranty if phone dies, you have to buyout your contract amount plus get another new phone with the monthly plan option BOTH.  Wife says NO,  only continue your monthly payments with new smartphone rate if going that route.  Who is right?

I just tell my wife what I'm going to do and go do it ... You should try that 

I tell mine after the deed has been done. Has worked well for me the last 7 years. She is slowly catching on and can pretty much predict the outcome, so she is not surprised at all these days.

[baldo]

I have a galaxy s6 edge for over a year and love the phone. Especially like the edge feature.

I almost got the Edge, but wasn't sure it was worth it. What do you like about it?

Being able to swipe favorites in from the hidden edge. Being able to tell the time in the dark when its laying on the nightstand since time is what I have configured to display on the edge. That edge thing is completely configurable to what you want on it.

Sounds good. I might take another look at it when it's time....

[cookiedough]

well, black friday deals are coming up and found thru our only us cellular provider able to get reception in our area 500 dollar promo gift cards if buy a samsung s7 phone.  good deal but the catch is no biggie 3 months of 9 dollar per month insurance plan can cancel after that and but the biggie have to turn in your old smartphone as well which wife does not want to do to keep as a backup just in case the new samsung s7 has issues before 2 years or so.

why does us cellular want a 2 year old phone?  To re-stock it and sell as refurbished and make some money off of it I guess? 

There always seems to be some type of catch on deals like these.  Wife and me are arguing since I say if say have 2 year contract with us cellular,  if say after 13 months after 1 year warranty if phone dies, you have to buyout your contract amount plus get another new phone with the monthly plan option BOTH.  Wife says NO,  only continue your monthly payments with new smartphone rate if going that route.  Who is right?

I just tell my wife what I'm going to do and go do it ... You should try that 

It is HER phone though, not MINE.  I think she has decided to get the s7 with 500 promo cards even if she has to trade in her s5 mini. 

My base smartphone moto g is perfectly fine for me suits my need and is 9 bucks per month vs. 22.40 for the s7. 

[Cliff]

Bought one of these for my 17 year old grandson to use on Verizon wireless... he loves it.

https://www.amazon.com/Moto-Play-4th-gen-Lockscreen/dp/B01KBH547A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1479755422&sr=8-2&keywords=amazon+cell+phones+unlocked

[cookiedough]

Bought one of these for my 17 year old grandson to use on Verizon wireless... he loves it.

https://www.amazon.com/Moto-Play-4th-gen-Lockscreen/dp/B01KBH547A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1479755422&sr=8-2&keywords=amazon+cell+phones+unlocked

yah,  my 1 year old moto g is fine for my needs vs. most others wanting the samsung galaxies being more expensive.    I see the new moto g play has cheapened up the camera though only 8 megapixels but am sure still decent pics taken with it.    the black friday 500 buck promo cards on the s7 though makes it affordable for sure, just sure hope when I get to a store friday mornning shortly after opening they have some left and can get in/out in a reasonable time with an associate to speak to since never standing in line again EVER 4-5 hours before the store opens up.  Did that once years ago wanting a latpop at bestbuy and was a few people short in line to get 1 of 10 they had ONLY ticking me off like 15th in line for 10 laptop deals is all.

[BF]

I love my Samsung Galaxy Note 4.  It has a stylus that I can use to take notes, make lists, etc.  I can replace the battery myself if it ever craps out.  It has a huge screen.....what's not to love.   

[Jess Tolbirt]

well, black friday deals are coming up and found thru our only us cellular provider able to get reception in our area 500 dollar promo gift cards if buy a samsung s7 phone.  good deal but the catch is no biggie 3 months of 9 dollar per month insurance plan can cancel after that and but the biggie have to turn in your old smartphone as well which wife does not want to do to keep as a backup just in case the new samsung s7 has issues before 2 years or so.

why does us cellular want a 2 year old phone?  To re-stock it and sell as refurbished and make some money off of it I guess? 

There always seems to be some type of catch on deals like these.  Wife and me are arguing since I say if say have 2 year contract with us cellular,  if say after 13 months after 1 year warranty if phone dies, you have to buyout your contract amount plus get another new phone with the monthly plan option BOTH.  Wife says NO,  only continue your monthly payments with new smartphone rate if going that route.  Who is right?

I just tell my wife what I'm going to do and go do it ... You should try that 

It is HER phone though, not MINE.  I think she has decided to get the s7 with 500 promo cards even if she has to trade in her s5 mini. 

My base smartphone moto g is perfectly fine for me suits my need and is 9 bucks per month vs. 22.40 for the s7. 

make sure that the s-7 she chooses is not the ones catching on fire

[cookiedough]

she got the new samsung s7 black friday.  main us cellular store even with our 250 promo gift card (another 250 in the mail in 9-10 more weeks) just decided black friday deal to also give us for 70 of the 250 promo gift card a new LG 10.1 inch GII tablet with mini keyboard and case, NO other fees due besides tax on it but will check first bill just to make sure he was not fibbing. 

I checked online and is 281 at walmart and 350 on amazon.com   so for 70 bucks not even out of our pocket was worth it.  Wife loves the new tablet has a stand as well and just as good or better than our ipad being about 8 inches. 

[gregk]

 I've got a Motorola through Verizon an service was good till about 2 weeks ago my pics got hijacked . message said the card was removed which is a crock of S.  Dam manager all he could say is they'll fix it if one of the service people can dup. what happened. crap im not that smart with this electronic stuff but I had new pics on the phone for 4 days already so they.aren't going to find a problem.        I have a eclipses tablet that I broke An tried a Samson and it was gunk so I took it back an got another eclipses and its good for what I do. No time to play games so I don't know about that.

[Pappy!]

Okay so..............Who is happy with their cell provider and what provider do you use?

[cookiedough]

Okay so..............Who is happy with their cell provider and what provider do you use?

ONLY one that can get decent cell phone calling coverage is US Cellular where I live.  I tried Verizon and way too many dead spots while driving around here.

[Pappy!]

And just the opposite down here. Verizon has the fewest dead spots. Wierd.

[Chrisj CMA]

Long story short...had to get a new phone.  I ended up giving the wife my Android motoE which for the price ($20 on sale) is a good phone.  I moved up to an iPhone 5S.  It was $149 on sale at WalMart.  I am quite impressed with the quality and capability of the 5S.  We use the Walmart Straight Talk program and are very happy with it.  It uses Verison towers, they seem to work best around here.