Thread of Cellphones

[tifosi77]

My S3? Even after new batteries, it's nagging me to recharge by 4-5 PM each day. Most days, it sits next to me at my desk, without being used.

My S3 is becoming terminal, I fear. The automatic memory manager thingy used to pop up saying it has freed x amount of memory (usually <2 mb) perhaps three times a month. Now it happens five or six times a day. The thing is laggy beyond belief. I have to have it hooked up to a car charger if we're going anywhere if I expect the phone to last through the evening.

[cadams]

Are you running KitKat or Jellybean? Was the S3 even upgraded to KiKat?

[tifosi77]

I didn't think the S3 supported KitKat, but I just checked and I'm on 4.4.2.

[DigitalGypsy66]

Yeah, I was surprised when I got the update to 4.4.2, over two years after the phone came out. Sadly, the battery life hasn't been the same since.

Great phone until then though.

[mikey]

So, as mentioned, I have a Galaxy S5. Way too often, I'm in the text message thing and I turn my phone sideways and it starts to call that person...once or twice, sure, I must have touched something by mistake. But it seems to happen like ~5% of the time, which is a lot for that. What am I doing wrong...? I really don't think I'm hitting anything...

[DigitalGypsy66]

Are you using Hangouts for SMS? I know it can easily call the people you are texting (by accident).

[mikey]

I do not use hangouts. I don't know what half the stuff on my phone does to be honest...I just use it to call and text people basically...unfortunately, I'm currently doing both at the same time unintentionally...

[tifosi77]

Yeah, I was surprised when I got the update to 4.4.2, over two years after the phone came out. Sadly, the battery life hasn't been the same since.

Great phone until then though.

That's been my experience as well; I just didn't realize my last system update was to KitKat. Is there a way to revert?

[tifosi77]

Also, the SiriusXM app can suck a bag of dicks. Since the last update, the thing is almost useless.

[cadams]

Yeah, I was surprised when I got the update to 4.4.2, over two years after the phone came out. Sadly, the byattery life hasn't been the same since.

Great phone until then though.

That's been my experience as well; I just didn't realize my last system update was to KitKat. Is there a way to revert?

Root and then install a custom jellybean firmware.

[Orlando Penguin]

OK, can anyone explain this...

I have the HTC One. Whenever I make a call and I'm inside, everything works great. But I get outside (and since I work in golf, I take a lot of calls outside) and somehow, my speaker and/or mute button gets turned on. Are they that sensitive that a little breeze sets them off? Is there any way to disable it? Even worse, calls randomly drop as I'm trying to unmute or turn off the speaker. This phone has nearly been thrown across every fairway on the PGA Tour. Problem is, I like the phone and don't want to junk it for something that is probably very easy for this non-tech clown to figure out.

[Craig]

Sounds like you should go back to a flip phone.

[tifosi77]

Why have all the high end Android phones suddenly stopped supporting removable batteries and SD cards? The battery thing isn't as big a deal, but the removable storage is kind of important to me. Are there even Android options in the current gen that still offer SD cards?

I'm more disturbed about the removable batteries. If you get a new phone every year I suppose it won't matter all that much, but I tend to keep mine for quite a few years, and even the best batteries fade over time. I probably replaced the battery in my prior phone maybe two or three times before I bought a new one, and I purchased a Galaxy S5 over competing models largely because the S5 has a removable battery. I'm greatly disappointed that the S6 has a fixed battery.

Yeah, I was surprised when I got the update to 4.4.2, over two years after the phone came out. Sadly, the battery life hasn't been the same since.

Great phone until then though.

After this past weekend in Seattle, I'm officially done with my phone. It ran the charge all the way down to zero twice, each time in about 5 hours. In the same span, Mrs Tif's S3 went from 100% to 82%. Pft.

Started looking online for a third party battery option, and saw this on Amazon:

What does the description mean by saying, "To reach the best performance, please full charge and discharge your new battery for 4 to 5 times" ?

A: Has to do with charging it in the phone, the software inconcert with the charging circuit in the phone actually learns the battery charging curve and adjusts to get the best use and performance from the battery. Which is one of the reasons why software updates and other software mess up the performance of the battery. The engineers designed it to have a battery installed and then left in it, not to be continually swapped out. It's one of the many reasons companies are slowly going to non-removable batteries like the Apple IPhone.

[DigitalGypsy66]

I picked up a Droid Turbo last week for $99 with a two year contract. I'd be dead in the water on this business trip I'm on with my S3. Heavy usage and I'll come home with at least a 50% charge. My old phone would have burned through both batteries in that time. Plus the turbo charger can charge it back a lot faster than the S3's charger.

[eddy]

For our trip to Charleston, wife and I decided to leave the big camera (Sony Cyber-shot DSCH50) at home and use our Note 4 his and her camera phones. We took 1500 pictures between the two of us and after backing them up on our home pc for our shutterfly vacation book, I'm very satisfied with the outcome. The convenience (especially with 3 kids) of pulling out of the pocket and taking a quick snap was unreal. If we took our older camera, we would probably have less than half of the pictures and we wouldn't have the luxury or ease of multiple pictures to look over. Still doesn't stop me from wanting a nice Nikon, but this was great.

[cheesesteakwithegg]

Dropped my cell phone in water the other day (not under warranty). Can still get email, texts, play on internet, clash of clans, etc but cannot make or accept any calls (this is after I dried it out in rice). Did all sorts of diagnostics with their over-the-phone tech support and nothing worked (not shocking, I fried something in the phone). They told me to go to the Verizon store and get a new sim card.

So I go to the Verizon store to get a new sim card and not surprisingly, that didn't work. I then find out that Verizon has open enrollment on warranties right now, so all I had to do was add the $9 insurance to the phone (which is 8 months from an upgrade) and I will be getting a new phone today. And I can cancel the insurance at any time. I braced myself to shell out $500 for a new phone, and man, do I feel lucky being able to avoid that.

[DigitalGypsy66]

So you can break a phone, call/go online, add insurance and then go to a store and get a replacement? WTF? Why have I been paying for insurance monthly for 3 years? Bastages.

[iamjs]

Samsung Smart Switch seems like such a great idea, but here I am making my fifth attempt at moving all of my stuff from one phone to another. The most recent attempt crashed at 94% on my old phone, causing it to reboot and come to a crashing halt (no pun intended ...ok, maybe a little.)

http://www.samsung.com/us/smart-switch/

[cadams]

I just discovered that my credit card includes up to $600 of phone insurance with a $25 deductible that I can use up to twice a year as long as I pay my bill with said credit card. Insurance with T-Mobile is $8 a month and over a $150 deductible.

[cadams]

Note 5 and S6 Edge+ showcased today, on sale at the end of the month. Neither have removable batteries or storage. LG remains the only one left with the G4 that has both as far as "flagship" devices go.

[tifosi77]

Note 5 and S6 Edge+ showcased today, on sale at the end of the month. Neither have removable batteries or storage. LG remains the only one left with the G4 that has both as far as "flagship" devices go.

This makes me sad.

[scb147]

Note 5 and S6 Edge+ showcased today, on sale at the end of the month. Neither have removable batteries or storage. LG remains the only one left with the G4 that has both as far as "flagship" devices go.

The lack of a removable battery and storage was a concern for me when I went from my DroidX to my Nexus 4. But it's been 2.5+ years and my battery life is still fine and I haven't had a need for more than the 16GB of space offered on the N4.

I guess with more "cloud" storage and people keeping their phones for less time, thus neglecting the need to replace a battery, manufacturer's have decided to cut those costs out of their phones.

[tifosi77]

Just as a matter of data security you should always have an on-device storage option. Frankly, I think that should be the default, rather than any cloud solution.

Removable batteries make travel much easier, as well.

[scb147]

Definitely see your point in regards to data security and traveling. Just seems that if there was a major uproar made to manufacturer's about not having removable storage or batteries, that they would oblige and offer more phones with them. There must be some data they have that says there isn't enough market to build these options into phones, so they just cut those options out.

[tifosi77]

If I wanted a device that gave me iPhone 'features', I'd buy an iPhone.