Author Topic: The Official Android Thread (Read 178704 times)

cramx3 · « **Reply #1155 on:** July 16, 2015, 01:22:07 PM »

Quote from: Implode on July 16, 2015, 01:12:26 PM

Quote from: cramx3 on July 16, 2015, 10:58:55 AM
Quote from: rumborak on July 16, 2015, 10:37:47 AM
It's 95% about the headphones anyway.

I use Bose QC15 headphones.

I used to have a pair of those. QC15's are the best over-ear heaphones for travelling. Their noise cancelling is so great, and they are very comfortable to wear. With mp3's and such, they'll more than get the job done.

However, if you're a hardcore audiophile who wants crazy fidelity from your music, QC15's just won't cut it. They are very bass heavy and the songs can get muddled. For listening at home on my computer, I use Sennheiser HD598's. They open headphones, so definitely not something to take on the road or use with other people around. But for private listening, they are excellent for what they cost. Much better high end and clearer sound than the QC15's, a bit cheaper to boot.

Im not an audiophile and the sound on these is very much good enough for me and I do travel and work in a data center which is loud so the noise cancelling is a reason why my company gave them to me. They also gave me Bose A20 headphones which besides being much bulkier, also don't sound as good so I never use them (even though they are ridiculously expensive, but totally not necessary).

Quote from: lonestar on July 16, 2015, 12:47:53 PM

Quote from: rumborak on July 16, 2015, 10:37:47 AM
It's 95% about the headphones anyway.

Agreed. Until the headphone jack doesn't work anymore,like on my S5. Bluetooth headphones just don't have it man.

Can bluetooth not handle the bitstream necessary? I thought they could or maybe interference? I've been wondering why Bose does not make bluetooth noise cancelling headphones (Sony does, but its not as good) and was thinking if its becasue the sound quality is not as good.

Bolsters · « **Reply #1156 on:** July 16, 2015, 10:36:30 PM »

Quote from: cramx3 on July 16, 2015, 10:05:14 AM

How does an Ipod classic do a better job than an Iphone? Im curious. I never knew there were people against using a phone for music.

Quote from: rumborak on July 16, 2015, 10:12:42 AM

Yeah, in this day and age, the idea that a phone would do a bad job at playing music is pretty anachronistic. There've been several years of "arms race" in the phone market who can produce the best sound.

notsureifsrs.jpg

Here's a list:

- I've heard an iPhone 4S play music through my pretty decent headphones. The iPod sounds better. Can't comment on later iPhone models.
- An iPhone has, at most, 128GB of storage which is not expandable and is shared with the phone's OS, apps (which generally you have a lot of), photos, videos, everything. The classic has 160GB which is almost all available solely for music. IIRC the iPod classic's OS is only about 100MB or so.
- iPhones use more power. Staying connected to a 4G mobile network drains power, the bigger and higher resolution touch screen drains a lot of power, playing music or videos or games on it drains power. Even when it isn't doing anything, it drains power. That and you essentially have to share your normal phone usage with music playback because it's all one device. You have to charge the thing pretty much daily so that it doesn't die. An iPod classic has a smaller battery in comparison, but it requires considerably less power to operate and can go significantly longer between charges even with frequent use. Plus I don't drain my precious phone's battery listening to music every single day.
- Personal preference here, but I think using a touchscreen to navigate a large (100GB+) music library would be a pain in the ass. I like the simplicity of the iPod classic frontend which is just a text list navigated by rotating my finger on a wheel.

The only advantage I personally see to using a phone is that I would have access to apps like Spotify. But I can live without that.

cramx3 · « **Reply #1157 on:** July 17, 2015, 06:00:35 AM »

Quote from: Bolsters on July 16, 2015, 10:36:30 PM

Quote from: cramx3 on July 16, 2015, 10:05:14 AM
How does an Ipod classic do a better job than an Iphone? Im curious. I never knew there were people against using a phone for music.
Quote from: rumborak on July 16, 2015, 10:12:42 AM
Yeah, in this day and age, the idea that a phone would do a bad job at playing music is pretty anachronistic. There've been several years of "arms race" in the phone market who can produce the best sound.
notsureifsrs.jpg Here's a list:

- I've heard an iPhone 4S play music through my pretty decent headphones. The iPod sounds better. Can't comment on later iPhone models.
- An iPhone has, at most, 128GB of storage which is not expandable and is shared with the phone's OS, apps (which generally you have a lot of), photos, videos, everything. The classic has 160GB which is almost all available solely for music. IIRC the iPod classic's OS is only about 100MB or so.
- iPhones use more power. Staying connected to a 4G mobile network drains power, the bigger and higher resolution touch screen drains a lot of power, playing music or videos or games on it drains power. Even when it isn't doing anything, it drains power. That and you essentially have to share your normal phone usage with music playback because it's all one device. You have to charge the thing pretty much daily so that it doesn't die. An iPod classic has a smaller battery in comparison, but it requires considerably less power to operate and can go significantly longer between charges even with frequent use. Plus I don't drain my precious phone's battery listening to music every single day.
- Personal preference here, but I think using a touchscreen to navigate a large (100GB+) music library would be a pain in the ass. I like the simplicity of the iPod classic frontend which is just a text list navigated by rotating my finger on a wheel.

The only advantage I personally see to using a phone is that I would have access to apps like Spotify. But I can live without that.

The power argument makes little sense IMO.... everything requires power in electronics including the ipod. I get the storage complaint though, a big reason why I went android for expandable memory. I use a 64GB microsd card only for music.

I have no data or anything to back this up, but I find it hard to believe the ipod vs. iphone argument in sound since they are both made by apple so I assume would be similar. The ipod is a bit older so maybe there is some truth in that apple did things better with the sound quality on those, but I don't know, I wouldn't of thought that.

Bolsters · « **Reply #1158 on:** July 17, 2015, 06:48:23 AM »

Quote from: cramx3 on July 17, 2015, 06:00:35 AM

The power argument makes little sense IMO.... everything requires power in electronics including the ipod. I get the storage complaint though, a big reason why I went android for expandable memory. I use a 64GB microsd card only for music.

I use the iPod every day, ranging from one album (so about an hour) to maybe three or four (let's say five hours). Unless I'm going somewhere and decide to charge it beforehand, I only plug it in to charge every two weeks or so. I have a USB port in my car but I generally only charge my phone with it, since it needs charging more often.

Even if I were to use my phone only for music, it wouldn't last anywhere near that long, and by using an iPod for music I have more juice on my phone to do phone things. That's what I was getting at.

As for sound quality, I've been told the 5 and 6 model iPhones are better than the 4S (which is the only one I've compared to an iPod, I have an Android phone myself) but I haven't listened to any of them. It could very well be a moot point by now.

cramx3 · « **Reply #1159 on:** July 17, 2015, 06:57:20 AM »

Well I would never buy an Iphone just for music, but if you turned all the extra features off (like phone signal, wifi, no apps) and use it strictly for music playing, I bet you'd get a ton of battery life out of it since that really doesnt consume much battery.

Implode · « **Reply #1160 on:** July 17, 2015, 07:45:38 AM »

I've had the S5 for about a year now, but I've been debating between going back to iPhone or getting an S6. I'm waiting to see what Apple releases in the fall to decide for sure, but what do you guys think? There aren't any services I use on my phone that are exclusive to either device, especially now that the new Samsung phones don't have expandable memory or a replaceable battery. I was going to go with the S6, but some things have me wary. For one, the battery on the S6 is less powerful than that on the S5. I've been told this is offset by the new devices more efficient usage of that power; is that true? Also, there is no improvement on the rear-facing camera; I heard that iPhone was going to make a huge upgrade there in their next model.

Any input/recommendations?

cramx3 · « **Reply #1161 on:** July 17, 2015, 08:06:33 AM »

My coworker has the S6, the battery is definitely not as good as the S5. The camera is actually significantly better than the S5. His pictures look amazing on his phone, way better than mine when compared. The screen is also amazing. I really dislike that they took away the removable battery and sd card. That is a big reason why I wouldn't buy an S6. I'm not so sure the iphone is any better though. I really wish Samsung will revert on the S7 cause I will grab that in a heartbeat if thats the case, if not I may consider going HTC for my next phone.

Chino · « **Reply #1162 on:** July 17, 2015, 08:09:00 AM »

Until it gets discontinued, I won't buy anything other than the Droid line from Verizon. My Droid X and my Droid Razr Maxx HD both made it the full two years without a case, and my Droid Turbo is a fucking champ.

King Postwhore · « **Reply #1163 on:** July 17, 2015, 08:10:20 AM »

Quote from: Implode on July 17, 2015, 07:45:38 AM

I've had the S5 for about a year now, but I've been debating between going back to iPhone or getting an S6. I'm waiting to see what Apple releases in the fall to decide for sure, but what do you guys think? There aren't any services I use on my phone that are exclusive to either device, especially now that the new Samsung phones don't have expandable memory or a replaceable battery. I was going to go with the S6, but some things have me wary. For one, the battery on the S6 is less powerful than that on the S5. I've been told this is offset by the new devices more efficient usage of that power; is that true? Also, there is no improvement on the rear-facing camera; I heard that iPhone was going to make a huge upgrade there in their next model.

Any input/recommendations?

Yes it is. My S6 battery life is not as good as the S5 but I still love the phone.

cramx3 · « **Reply #1164 on:** July 17, 2015, 08:55:43 AM »

Quote from: Chino on July 17, 2015, 08:09:00 AM

Until it gets discontinued, I won't buy anything other than the Droid line from Verizon. My Droid X and my Droid Razr Maxx HD both made it the full two years without a case, and my Droid Turbo is a fucking champ.

My old Droid Razr Maxx (before the HD version) was really solid too, also lasted my full 2 years with no issues. I still have it and bring it to concerts because it records the audio sooooo much better than my S5. Maybe next year when Im good for an upgrade if the S7 dissapoints, ill go the Maxx route again and compare that to the newest HTC. I just am really against not having the SD card. It's very clutch for me.

rumborak · « **Reply #1165 on:** July 17, 2015, 12:16:46 PM »

Quote from: kingshmegland on July 17, 2015, 08:10:20 AM

Quote from: Implode on July 17, 2015, 07:45:38 AM
I've had the S5 for about a year now, but I've been debating between going back to iPhone or getting an S6. I'm waiting to see what Apple releases in the fall to decide for sure, but what do you guys think? There aren't any services I use on my phone that are exclusive to either device, especially now that the new Samsung phones don't have expandable memory or a replaceable battery. I was going to go with the S6, but some things have me wary. For one, the battery on the S6 is less powerful than that on the S5. I've been told this is offset by the new devices more efficient usage of that power; is that true? Also, there is no improvement on the rear-facing camera; I heard that iPhone was going to make a huge upgrade there in their next model.

Any input/recommendations?

Yes it is. My S6 battery life is not as good as the S5 but I still love the phone.

Thing is, the amount of bloatware on many of those phones has kinda gotten out of control. I have rooted just about every phone I've had, for exactly that reason.

King Postwhore · « **Reply #1166 on:** July 17, 2015, 12:23:37 PM »

I did as well be the battery life is still not as good as the S5.

Implode · « **Reply #1167 on:** July 17, 2015, 12:24:21 PM »

God, yeah. It's awful. You have three copies of every general app out there. You have like a standard pack of permanent apps from the os, the phone manufacturer, and the carrier. That's a definite benefit from having an iPhone. Only one set of bloatware.

Battery life is the #1 concern for me. I'm not sure if it'll ever be possible, but one day I'd like to have a phone that'd be able to survive over an hour of constant data usage. Camera is #2. cramx, you said the camera is significantly better on the S6. What's better about it? All the measurements I can find on websites just state the MP count which is exactly the same.

cramx3 · « **Reply #1168 on:** July 17, 2015, 01:05:12 PM »

Eye test I guess although I thought the camera did have more MP. My coworker and I both take pictures of the same thing, his looks amazing, mine look good. It's pretty noticable. So if the specs are equal, then maybe there is some better software?

King Postwhore · « **Reply #1169 on:** July 17, 2015, 01:06:04 PM »

Yeah the pictures on the S6 are amazing. Even when zooming.

cramx3 · « **Reply #1170 on:** July 17, 2015, 01:09:56 PM »

A quick google search came up with this

https://bgr.com/2015/04/14/galaxy-s6-vs-galaxy-s5-camera/

Quote

The Galaxy S6 has a 16-megapixel main camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, both with F1.9 apertures that let in more light than the Galaxy S5’s cameras, thus capturing better selfies and night shots in addition to regular pictures. Launching the camera app is now significantly faster too: 0.7 seconds for the Galaxy S6 compared to 1.3 seconds for the Galaxy S5.

Other useful Galaxy S6 camera features include optical image stabilization, auto HDR mode, improved auto focus (including tracking auto focus) and improved low-light picture and video performance.

There is a youtube video on there that may have more info, but I didnt watch.

The difference is just so noticeable that I assumed the hardware was better, which it may be from that article.

Implode · « **Reply #1171 on:** July 17, 2015, 01:29:09 PM »

Oh, yes! That explains it. Thank you for clearing that up!

cramx3 · « **Reply #1172 on:** July 17, 2015, 01:41:31 PM »

no prob, like I said, even my poor eyes could notice the difference so something must have been better (plus its almost standard that the next gen phone has a better camera).

jasc15 · « **Reply #1173 on:** July 17, 2015, 02:27:10 PM »

Are there any phones in the sub $200 range that have good cameras? My wife and I both have the Moto G 4G (XT1045), but the camera is lacking. I don't take many pictures, but she does. Her last phone, the HTC One X had an excellent camera, but it was subsidized by an ATT contract, where we are now on a no contract plan.

jasc15 · « **Reply #1174 on:** September 09, 2015, 07:43:22 PM »

Can anyone recommend a good calculator app? Something with exponential and trig functions like a scientific calculator. There are lots and I'm trying to sift through them all.

Dimitrius · « **Reply #1175 on:** September 10, 2015, 10:05:47 AM »

RealCalc

jasc15 · « **Reply #1176 on:** September 10, 2015, 01:27:58 PM »

Wow, and no ads or permissions required! Thanks.

Dimitrius · « **Reply #1177 on:** September 10, 2015, 01:50:42 PM »

Yeah, it's the best I've seen.

Sir GuitarCozmo · « **Reply #1178 on:** December 07, 2015, 10:10:45 AM »

Very odd thing happened last night. I have a Samsung S5 android device. I use the basic Chrome browser it comes installed with and have a few bookmarks saved there. Last night, I went into my bookmarks and noticed that somehow, all of the bookmarks from my home computer's Firefox bookmarks list are now in my phone. I absolutely DID NOT tell it to do this. I also try to keep signed OUT of my Google account as much as possible. If I open up Chrome on my phone, there's a "Sign In" link in the upper corner. And I stay signed out of Google on my home computers as well.

Now when I'm at home, I do connect my phone to Wi-Fi to save my data usage, so I suppose there's some way it auto synced to my phone, but I really don't know how that could have happened, as I don't have Firefox installed on my phone. I had it there once, but that was some time ago, long before this happened.

Has this kind of thing happened to anyone?

JayOctavarium · « **Reply #1179 on:** December 07, 2015, 06:10:56 PM »

That's... strange

lonestar · « **Reply #1180 on:** December 08, 2015, 01:38:28 AM »

Yeah, that's pretty weird.

Sir GuitarCozmo · « **Reply #1181 on:** December 08, 2015, 06:25:13 AM »

When I installed Chrome on the new computer months ago, I imported all the Firefox bookmarks I had into it. Only thing I can imagine is that SOMEHOW Chrome updated itself from my computer to my phone via my Google account. I still don't know how that's possible, since I do NOT sign into Google from my home computer, but clearly there's a way.

cramx3 · « **Reply #1182 on:** December 08, 2015, 06:28:40 AM »

Google knows all

Im not so sure either, but maybe you accidentally signed it at some point? Why don't you sign in though? Syncing bookmarks is awesome, but then there is the all seeing/knowing google.

Sir GuitarCozmo · « **Reply #1183 on:** December 08, 2015, 06:35:07 AM »

That's exactly why I don't. I have Google settings set to track as little as possible, but I still try to stay out of it, because it IS pretty much all seeing/knowing. Now my Chrome browser on my phone isn't signed into Google, but since all Android phones work off of a Google account, my phone is still signed into it in some fashion. Has to have been some sort of fluke. That's what I'm going to tell myself, anyway.

cramx3 · « **Reply #1184 on:** December 08, 2015, 06:39:43 AM »

As much as giving away a lot of your privacy to google, it's really helpful and makes life a lot easier when you are signed in.

For example, I was looking for directions the other day to get to a bar I have never gone to. I googled the bar on my PC to get some info on it. Get in my car, clip maps and directions and its my #1 option to go and I had never put it into google maps before, but it knew from my PC search a couple hours earlier.

Sir GuitarCozmo · « **Reply #1185 on:** December 08, 2015, 06:42:14 AM »

I get that, there IS probably some improved ease of doing things, but I manage. I don't really see the impact that NOT being signed in has had on me, because I don't really know any different. So fortunately, I don't know what I'm missing, to miss it.

cramx3 · « **Reply #1186 on:** December 08, 2015, 06:45:17 AM »

It's really just some ease when using more than one device linked to google. It's not a really large improvement, just a few things here and there that make me wonder how the heck does it know what I am about to do which is helpful and scary at the same time.

Google is my companies #1 competitor so I shouldn't be supporting them, but I can't help it.

King Postwhore · « **Reply #1187 on:** December 08, 2015, 06:45:46 AM »

Imagine all you favorite porn sites you could track on your phone Coz.

Imagine.

Sir GuitarCozmo · « **Reply #1188 on:** December 08, 2015, 06:48:35 AM »

Got none. For all my love of the female form, I stay away from those sites.

Podaar · « **Reply #1189 on:** December 08, 2015, 06:50:27 AM »

Really, Coz? Those are some of the best comedy sites on the intertubes.

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Author Topic: The Official Android Thread (Read 178704 times)