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Asus Zenfone Max ZC550KL has 5000mAh
http://www.gsmarena.com/asus_z...

Right, so insightful. The only real question remaining in consumer's minds these days is whether to buy their dangerous device from Samsung or Apple

So, what's this?
Palm Treo 180

According to this thread http://forum.gsmhosting.com/vbb/f131/code-3001-12345-a-96476 that code does not work for the Nokia 3310 and in fact only works for certain CDMA phones. The Nokia 3310 only came as a GSM phone.

I encourage everyone to do their own searches for:

Nokia 3310 *3001#12345#

to see how much of a liar Khyber is.

I don't want an super thin phone, why not make it bit bigger to have an better battery / one you can swap!

I started to buy an asus zenphone 3 max, which has a battery that lasts plenty long enough. link.

I decided not to because it did not have gorilla glass.

I ended up buying an older Motorola which did have it then putting a wireless charging thing in the back. (It barely fit.) 5" fits in your pocket, and the wireless charging makes things nice.

My Nokia 2323 is still working just fine for my simple needs, thanks - it is superb at making phone calls, fits easily in my pocket, lasts 2 weeks between recharges, and new batteries are readily available when needed. I live in the UK so of course now that we've left Europe our culture only has Third World sophistication and I know nothing of your life-enhancing appy ride-sharing hangout-checkin-powered nearby-fastfood-outlet-synchronised brain-obsoleting glamorous lifestyle.

Who even cares about wifi cards any more? Seriously?

I carry a separate wifi/mobile data receiver and attach it to my laptop via USB. If there's signal, it works.

My receiver happens to be made by Samsung, but there are lots of other manufacturers to choose from.

As a bonus, I can also use it to make phone calls.

One Plus X fits your bill nicely: http://www.gsmarena.com/oneplu...

1. 4.7" screen (5" would be OK)
2. Micro SD slot
3. Removable battery
4. Regular Android updates.

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get any of that.

No, I'm speaking specifically of less than 5"
5" is like some magic screen size now in Androidland.

Here's only 5" handsets matching your specs and running recent Android.
Here's 5.1-5.5"
Here's everything 4.9" and smaller.

If you're willing to forego the removable battery, Sony makes a smaller version of their flagship in 4.7" normally (although they lowered the specs a bit this year).

1. 4.7" screen (5" would be OK)
2. Micro SD slot
3. Removable battery
4. Regular Android updates.

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get any of that.

No, I'm speaking specifically of less than 5"
5" is like some magic screen size now in Androidland.

Here's only 5" handsets matching your specs and running recent Android.
Here's 5.1-5.5"
Here's everything 4.9" and smaller.

If you're willing to forego the removable battery, Sony makes a smaller version of their flagship in 4.7" normally (although they lowered the specs a bit this year).

1. 4.7" screen (5" would be OK)
2. Micro SD slot
3. Removable battery
4. Regular Android updates.

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get any of that.

No, I'm speaking specifically of less than 5"
5" is like some magic screen size now in Androidland.

Here's only 5" handsets matching your specs and running recent Android.
Here's 5.1-5.5"
Here's everything 4.9" and smaller.

If you're willing to forego the removable battery, Sony makes a smaller version of their flagship in 4.7" normally (although they lowered the specs a bit this year).

If only there was another phone available right now which had all these features - fingerprint ID, 1080p+ resolution, cordless charging, and an OLED screen. Then you wouldn't have to wait...

It's not made by Google, it's made by HTC. And they just rejiggered the HTC 10. http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_10... [gsmarena.com]

It's designed by Google and manufactured by HTC. Just because it looks sort of similar to another HTC phones means nothing. The specs are different. The internals are different. It shares about as much w/ the HTC 10 as it does with any recent generation smart phone.

It's not made by Google, it's made by HTC. And they just rejiggered the HTC 10. http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_10...

iPhone 7 dimensions: 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm

Samung S7 dimensions: 142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9 mm

LG G5 dimensions: 149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7 mm

HTC 10 dimensions: 145.9 x 71.9 x 9 mm

The Samsung and the LG are very close in dimensions (oh, and they kept their 3.5mm audio jacks). The HTC10 is the big boy, being a bit thicker (1.9mm - about 2 fingernail thicknesses).

And of course, the iPhone is just 750 x 1334 pixels, the others are pushing 1440 x 2560 pixels, nearly 4 times the number of pixels as well, meaning their GPUs are working a lot harder for that rendering on the screen. Even with that against them - they still trash the iPhone in terms of battery life.

iPhone 7 dimensions: 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm

Samung S7 dimensions: 142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9 mm

LG G5 dimensions: 149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7 mm

HTC 10 dimensions: 145.9 x 71.9 x 9 mm

The Samsung and the LG are very close in dimensions (oh, and they kept their 3.5mm audio jacks). The HTC10 is the big boy, being a bit thicker (1.9mm - about 2 fingernail thicknesses).

And of course, the iPhone is just 750 x 1334 pixels, the others are pushing 1440 x 2560 pixels, nearly 4 times the number of pixels as well, meaning their GPUs are working a lot harder for that rendering on the screen. Even with that against them - they still trash the iPhone in terms of battery life.

iPhone 7 dimensions: 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm

Samung S7 dimensions: 142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9 mm

LG G5 dimensions: 149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7 mm

HTC 10 dimensions: 145.9 x 71.9 x 9 mm

The Samsung and the LG are very close in dimensions (oh, and they kept their 3.5mm audio jacks). The HTC10 is the big boy, being a bit thicker (1.9mm - about 2 fingernail thicknesses).

And of course, the iPhone is just 750 x 1334 pixels, the others are pushing 1440 x 2560 pixels, nearly 4 times the number of pixels as well, meaning their GPUs are working a lot harder for that rendering on the screen. Even with that against them - they still trash the iPhone in terms of battery life.

iPhone 7 dimensions: 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm

Samung S7 dimensions: 142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9 mm

LG G5 dimensions: 149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7 mm

HTC 10 dimensions: 145.9 x 71.9 x 9 mm

The Samsung and the LG are very close in dimensions (oh, and they kept their 3.5mm audio jacks). The HTC10 is the big boy, being a bit thicker (1.9mm - about 2 fingernail thicknesses).

And of course, the iPhone is just 750 x 1334 pixels, the others are pushing 1440 x 2560 pixels, nearly 4 times the number of pixels as well, meaning their GPUs are working a lot harder for that rendering on the screen. Even with that against them - they still trash the iPhone in terms of battery life.

You've got some weird problems. I read your post 4 times and I still don't know what you're going on about. Particularly in the second paragraph. What the hell is a "localized model?" A few months ago I picked up my first Samsung phone (I typically use LG), a Galaxy On7 Pro in China. Opened the box, inserted my SIM and SD cards, turned it on, set the language from Chinese Simplified to English, then stuck it in my pocket and went home. Never even touched the manual. Why would I? What kind of support do you need? If the damn phone doesn't work, take it back to where you bought it.

A water resistant phone with a removable battery.
This is definitely not possible.

A water resistant phone with a removable battery.
This is definitely not possible.

A water resistant phone with a removable battery.
This is definitely not possible.

A water resistant phone with a removable battery.
This is definitely not possible.

A water resistant phone with a removable battery.
This is definitely not possible.

You guessed it! It will actually have a big S (for safe) on it, on the sticker on the box. http://www.gsmarena.com/how_to...

I'll bet you a case of beer they still won't let you on board an airliner with a Note 7, sticker or not.

You guessed it! It will actually have a big S (for safe) on it, on the sticker on the box. http://www.gsmarena.com/how_to...

My OnePlus 3 has 6GB of ram, and 64 GB storage.

And a 3.5 mm jack.

And costs half as much.

http://www.gsmarena.com/oneplu...

The Samsung S7 and S7 Edge have 2560x1440 screens. The iPhone 7 has 1334 x 750 and the 7 Plus has 1920 x 1080. So you get a LOT more pixels and - in the case of the iPhone 7 - much bigger screens as well (the two Samsung models and the iPhone 7 Plus are 5.5" units). Considering that's the main UI, adding the thickness of a fingernail to the package is pretty insubstantial. Of course, if you REALLY want thin, you can go with the Gionee Elife 5.1 that has about the same resolution as the iPhone 7, but packs it into a package just 5.2mm thick (about 2mm thinner). Oh - and it keeps the 3.5mm jack as well... :)

For me, the problem was that I have no interest in 'phablets.' Unfortunately, there isn't a single Android manufacturer that offers a smaller cell phone that's not also totally stripped of performance and features.

You're gonna have to explain how moving to iOS solves that. The iPhone is a 4.7" and above device, with the 4" iPhone SE being an concession to people holding onto older handset. It's not a "regular iPhone model" so who knows if it will ever get upgraded again.

Meanwhile, there are many Android phones available in 4.7" size, including higher end models like the new Xperia X Compact, and manufactures like BLU making devices as small as 3.5".

Depends on where you are. This is one instance where I'm glad I live in China. Picked up a Samsung Galaxy On7 Pro at a major electronics retailer. Nothing pre-installed on the phone except for the default Android apps, a Samsung store manager I never use, and a Theme Store. That's it. No carrier installed apps. Just popped in my Sim and SD cards and I was rockin'.

The iPhone 4 brought high-DPI displays to smartphones.

Um, the iPhone 3 was a paltry 320x480 and 165 ppi. The Galaxy S (announced 3 months before the iPhone 4) was 480x800 and 233 ppi.

The iPhone 4 at 640x960 wasn't that much better than 480x800 (Samsung even stuck with that resolution the following year with the S2). It just hit 330 ppi because it had a smaller screen than Android phones of the era.

The "retina" thing was pure marketing BS for what was a very practical technical decision: to make porting easier, just increase the resolution by 2x in both directions

It wasn't a practical decision, it was a stupid decision. Apple got it right with MacOS and Postscript - the display should be resolution-agnostic. The screen simply tells the OS its physical size, and the OS calculates the ppi and scales the display output so that an 8 point font is the same size on any screen, big or small, as it is on a printed page. It was one of the best decisions they ever made, and a large part of why Macs are standard in the publishing industry. With Windows, the size of your preview on the screen may or may not match the size when printed. Heck, even Windows 10 still has problems scaling fonts to an arbitrary size.

Then for some inexplicable reason, Apple locked the screen resolution in iOS to 320x480. Which was fine when all their model phones (or rather their single model) had a 3.5" screen (or 9.7" 1024x768 for tablets). But gave them the same Windows-esque scaling problems when they tried to market products with different size screens. e.g. An app UI which is fine on an iPad is a hair too small on the iPad mini. The whole problem stems from Jobs' insistence that a 3.5" display was "perfect" for a phone and no other display size would ever be needed. That was a stupid decision then and it's a stupid decision they're suffering from now.

Ironically, Android uses the scaling model Apple established with the Mac. Android has a hidden internal scaling constant set by the manufacturer (you can tweak it if you root your device) based on the size and ppi of the display. It scales the UI so the icons and fonts remain the same size across all Android devices with this constant set correctly. On my elderly parents' phones, I used to root it and tweak this constant so the icons and fonts are a bit bigger (there is now a separate font size setting).

The iPhone 4 brought high-DPI displays to smartphones.

Um, the iPhone 3 was a paltry 320x480 and 165 ppi. The Galaxy S (announced 3 months before the iPhone 4) was 480x800 and 233 ppi.

The iPhone 4 at 640x960 wasn't that much better than 480x800 (Samsung even stuck with that resolution the following year with the S2). It just hit 330 ppi because it had a smaller screen than Android phones of the era.

The "retina" thing was pure marketing BS for what was a very practical technical decision: to make porting easier, just increase the resolution by 2x in both directions

It wasn't a practical decision, it was a stupid decision. Apple got it right with MacOS and Postscript - the display should be resolution-agnostic. The screen simply tells the OS its physical size, and the OS calculates the ppi and scales the display output so that an 8 point font is the same size on any screen, big or small, as it is on a printed page. It was one of the best decisions they ever made, and a large part of why Macs are standard in the publishing industry. With Windows, the size of your preview on the screen may or may not match the size when printed. Heck, even Windows 10 still has problems scaling fonts to an arbitrary size.

Then for some inexplicable reason, Apple locked the screen resolution in iOS to 320x480. Which was fine when all their model phones (or rather their single model) had a 3.5" screen (or 9.7" 1024x768 for tablets). But gave them the same Windows-esque scaling problems when they tried to market products with different size screens. e.g. An app UI which is fine on an iPad is a hair too small on the iPad mini. The whole problem stems from Jobs' insistence that a 3.5" display was "perfect" for a phone and no other display size would ever be needed. That was a stupid decision then and it's a stupid decision they're suffering from now.

Ironically, Android uses the scaling model Apple established with the Mac. Android has a hidden internal scaling constant set by the manufacturer (you can tweak it if you root your device) based on the size and ppi of the display. It scales the UI so the icons and fonts remain the same size across all Android devices with this constant set correctly. On my elderly parents' phones, I used to root it and tweak this constant so the icons and fonts are a bit bigger (there is now a separate font size setting).

The iPhone 4 brought high-DPI displays to smartphones.

Um, the iPhone 3 was a paltry 320x480 and 165 ppi. The Galaxy S (announced 3 months before the iPhone 4) was 480x800 and 233 ppi.

The iPhone 4 at 640x960 wasn't that much better than 480x800 (Samsung even stuck with that resolution the following year with the S2). It just hit 330 ppi because it had a smaller screen than Android phones of the era.

The "retina" thing was pure marketing BS for what was a very practical technical decision: to make porting easier, just increase the resolution by 2x in both directions

It wasn't a practical decision, it was a stupid decision. Apple got it right with MacOS and Postscript - the display should be resolution-agnostic. The screen simply tells the OS its physical size, and the OS calculates the ppi and scales the display output so that an 8 point font is the same size on any screen, big or small, as it is on a printed page. It was one of the best decisions they ever made, and a large part of why Macs are standard in the publishing industry. With Windows, the size of your preview on the screen may or may not match the size when printed. Heck, even Windows 10 still has problems scaling fonts to an arbitrary size.

Then for some inexplicable reason, Apple locked the screen resolution in iOS to 320x480. Which was fine when all their model phones (or rather their single model) had a 3.5" screen (or 9.7" 1024x768 for tablets). But gave them the same Windows-esque scaling problems when they tried to market products with different size screens. e.g. An app UI which is fine on an iPad is a hair too small on the iPad mini. The whole problem stems from Jobs' insistence that a 3.5" display was "perfect" for a phone and no other display size would ever be needed. That was a stupid decision then and it's a stupid decision they're suffering from now.

Ironically, Android uses the scaling model Apple established with the Mac. Android has a hidden internal scaling constant set by the manufacturer (you can tweak it if you root your device) based on the size and ppi of the display. It scales the UI so the icons and fonts remain the same size across all Android devices with this constant set correctly. On my elderly parents' phones, I used to root it and tweak this constant so the icons and fonts are a bit bigger (there is now a separate font size setting).

They've been selling high quality Nokia branded phones for the last five years.

High quality Android phones? Not announced yet.

expect to buy one in the next couple months (OK, I'm not all that serious about it yet). The 2 things I demand are a regular headphone jack, and an SDCC card slot.

How about a starting your search with the Nokia 3110 classic? Assuming by SDCC you mean SD Card Controller. What does SDCC stand for?

The Sony Z4 Tablet, which is waterproof (IP 65/68), has a waterproof jack and micro-USB connector, and is 6,1mm thin. Is that still too much for you?

So which is it; IP65 or IP68? They are VERY different standards when it comes to "water resistance".

6.1 mm, let's see: That's .240 inches (roughly a quarter-inch). The iPhone 6s Plus is 7.3mm TOTAL; so yes, it is a full 1.2mm thinner than the current iPhone.

HOWEVER, I challenge that "IP65/68" rating. I was looking-up the dimensions, and just randomly picked a site in my search. But as I went down through the specs, looking for the "IP" rating, I came across a comment by "Phillip" that read:

Don't try to submerse into water even for 5 minutes. It is not water proof or even resistance. if you look at the warranty card. There is a disclaimer. The water proof is not even better than Z3 tablet. I tried it.

So, I seriously doubt that IP68 rating, and maybe it doesn't even make the IP65 cut.

Plus, it looks like Sony has (no surprise) been piling on the Asterisks around their "Waterproof" claims (and some would say, outright lying) for its mobile devices in general, and apparently has been forced to pull ads and backpedal regarding those claims.

BTW, someone who is a diver once told me that a "3-meter" rating on a watch does NOT mean you can take something diving to 12 feet. Because everytime you wave your arm around, you temporarily increase the pressure to several times what you would experience in a "static" depth test (hence the "carefully lowered into a container of water condition in Sony's test). So, a "3-Meter" rating basically means you can have it splashed with water.

But notice that Sony also stipulated "non-operating". I would bet that means "with no battery". Of course, that changes a LOT. Plus I would bet that Sony uses DISTILLED water (which is non-ionic) for their testing.

Bottom line: NOT IMPRESSED.

Decent: yes. High-end: no.

The Desire HD was released together with the Desire Z and had 256MB more RAM (which made a huge difference at that time) and a better SoC:
http://www.gsmarena.com/compar...

18 months? That's pretty good for and Android device. I had an LG Android phone, and it never got a single update from the day I bought it. I managed to install the T-Mobile update (I was on a different carrier, in Canada) to bump it from 2.2 to 2.3. This was a phone that was released only 6 months before Android.

To contrast, my Surfrace 2 with Windows RT that I bought over 2 years ago still gets regular updates to this day. A platform that Microsoft has effectively killed and yet they are still releasing updates for it.

I personally will never buy another Android device until they actually fix the problem with updates. The only way to fix it would be for the updates to come straight from Google and all carrier/manufacturer customizations be in the form or apps, which have nothing to do with the proper operation of the phone. They would also have to figure out a way to get drivers to work with upgraded versions, since I hear that is a big problem with getting manufacturers to release updates.

I still use my Motorola VE66. Probably the best phone that Motorola ever made.

In contrast, the government is now going up against the three largest companies on the planet Earth (Apple, Google, and Microsoft)—companies that make essentially 100% of the world's smartphones among them.

Don't forget the worldwide #1: Samsung. Alone good for more than 1 in 5 phones. Google and MS are not even in the top-5. Windows Mobile is rather irrelevant and as Samsung and many others (e.g. Cyanogenmod) have proven already Android can be forked and bastardised just fine.

Samsung are big enough that if they want to stay in the US market, they may release a special US version, with back door, and an international version with real security for the other 95% of the world. That failing, there are plenty of other non-US makers of phones, many of whom will be happy to include real security.

It'd probably end up being just another step on the road to irrelevance for US-based smart phone makers.

The Blu Life One X is only $150 and the Blu Pure XL is only $350 on Amazon now. I think I'd rather get one of those.

The Blu Life One X is only $150 and the Blu Pure XL is only $350 on Amazon now. I think I'd rather get one of those.

Have you see the Moto X Force?
Also with Micro SD, and with a huge 3760 mAh battery (though non-swappable).

Supposed to be near impossible to break, but also on the pricey side.

Why not buy one of those easy-to-find extra battery USB-charger things and carry that with you instead?

This is a much better solution than having to give all the contacts another number to try you at if your phone's dead.
If you're going to carry an extra device, might has well make it 99% battery/device ratio.

Also -- should have been a better shopper when picking your phone. I recommend the phone finder at GSMArena to narrow down requirements (including talk/standby time for the battery).

This

You must not use the screen much. It's rated around the same as the iPhone 6. I've yet to find a really high-capacity phone, though "phablets" like yours have a lot more room for battery. So, if you don't use the ginormous, power-draining screen then you will get a lot more time on standby or talk.

Back in August, I was considering an upgrade from my LG Nexus 4. I was looking at a few phones and was told by friends to wait and see what the next line of Nexus devices had to offer. I had been watching rumours and I was curious to see what was to become of the Nexus 5.

I caught a good deal on a Motorola X Play (not available in the US) so I took advantage of it at the end of August.

Looking at these specs, I'm actually glad I didn't wait. The Moto X Play has turned out to be a great phone, and the new Nexus 5 appears to be more expensive for less (smaller battery, lower res camera, no SD slot, and I have no use for a fingerprint reader). While the Nexus 5X has faster processor and GPU I really don't think it would make much difference, and I do not play video games so I don't see the need for it.

The only thing I think would have been nice was having it unlocked from the factory... but that really doesn't matter as unlock codes are easy to come by.

1. Javascript benchmarks. They should be outlawed, period. They test the software (browser) more than the CPU. Also they are probably single threaded or close to be.

2. On-screen 3D game benchmarks. Because they favor phones with low-res display such as iPhones.

None of the benchmarks in TFA even consider RAM size and flash memory speed, which both have real-world benefits.

I'm sure that ALL of these benchmarks are done by Apple shills.

Right.

Oh, and whiner, I found this and this about the memory subsystem in the iPhone 6s. Glad you asked!

Wow, going from 3GB to 4GB, nice. A better improvement would have been a properly designed phone. Apple, HTC know how to build something that doesn't have a plastic rim or hard plastic masquerading as faux stiched leather on the back. The last design from Samsung was this: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsun...

Manufacturers should have to support smart phones for five years? What have you been smoking, buddy? And can you pass me some? The hardware itself (screen, casing, battery, etc.) of most phones does not last 5 years - why should the software?

My phone is a Samsung Galaxy SII. I bought it when it was newly launched. It is now four years old. My previous phone was a T-Mobile G1, also sold as the HTC Dream, the first retail Android phone, which I also bought when it was newly launched. I still have it and it actually still works, but we replaced it in part because of application problems from being limited to Android 2.3.

Just because you replace your technology frequently doesn't mean that the rest of us do. Frankly I'd rather spend my money on other pursuits rather than re-buying the same theoretically-durable goods all of the time.