[SOLVED] Thinking about buying a new Motorola phone

[pecos1]

I'm thinking of buying the Xiaomi Redmi K20 pro

 

[MoodyBlues]

Welcome to Android Forums, pecos1!

I'm thinking of buying the Xiaomi Redmi K20 pro

You might want to start your own thread, since this one is really about Motorola phones. In it, you can ask for advice, tell us how you're going to use the phone, which features you want, and so on. Someone might be able to recommend a different, better phone in your price range!

 

[joe71]

The first computer I remember using was a Commodore. That was back in 1979. I think I was in the 6th grade maybe 7th, after that I don't think I used a computer again until late in the 80's (1988)
As for the phone discussion
Motorola hyper : No not compatible with Verizon
Moto Z4 ; No. Okay you're paying $500 plus tax for the phone and then dropping another couple of hundred on the mods??
That's if you can get them
The Motorola Razor : absolutely not, no way $1,500,???? Yeah right
I would probably get the Moto G7 plus
I switched to the LG G 6 in 2018 when my Nexus 6 gave out , that was in January by November the G6 was having so many issues I had to get an emergency replacement. Got the moto E5 plus.
The TMobile sales representative said going from the G6 to the E5 plus was a huge down grade I would regret
He was right in one area, the camera. Personally in my opinion the G6 had the best camera on phone I have ever used including my pixel 3,
As far as everything else the Moto E5 plus blew the G6 out of the water.
The performance was better, there wasn't all the bloat ware , side by side the E5 plus was just a better phone (accept for the camera)
I only stopped using the E5 when I switched to Verizon full time.
My seven year old still uses the E5 plus, it's gaming/educational device now and I think the wife installed her Facebook account so that our daughter can FaceTime with family

 

[maire5]

When I found out about the new Razr I got excited, fondly remembering my v3i. How disappointing to see that $1500 price tag, then later reading about how they break so easily at the fold. If they would bring back the v3i, I would get a new one since I can’t find the old one.

 

[Hadron]

I've still got the original V3 (none of that fancy "i" stuff ). It was my daily driver for more than 5 years, and only replaced when I bought my first smartphone in 2010.


It still works as well, though I'd have to charge it to show you.

 

[maire5]

The last time I came across mine, I charged it and it looked like it was still functional. Since I preferred a phone for phone purposes, think it worked better for me at the time. Now I just get the impression cell phones in general and smart phones in particular just cost more and more for less and less.

 

[Hadron]

To be fair when I bought mine it was regarded as overpriced by reviewers: you were paying a premium for the design, when many phones offered better functionality (and less basic software) for less. It hadn't yet had the price cuts that accompanied it becoming ubiquitous.

But I didn't care: I regarded all phone cameras as a joke, their browsing capabilities were also laughable, and the RAZR had a great design, good reception, good call quality, was fun to carry and use. The only thing I missed was that the battery life wasn't as good as the Ericsson T68 that preceded it: I had to charge it every 5 days rather than every 10 .

Apologies that I can't really help with the original question: these aren't phones I'm familiar with, and my own preferences are different (especially size: these are all too big for me). If I had to take one it would be the one with the pop-up selfie camera, purely became I don't have any use for a selfie camera and so would rather not suffer a notch or punch hole to accommodate one.

 

[Milo Willamson]

Been reading a ton on the pixel four, not only because of the price drop, I do get a 150$ in store credit with verizon on my moto phone.
Also been really reading up on the lovely AF family to see what they have to say, about the phone, there has been really technical issues I posted in here a bit ago - even the blue tooth has to be up to my chin, when streaming and listening to music though.
I wonder if the Pixel will ever be in that same page of having it more, so I can have it by my leg and it will not cut out.

 

[Hadron]

Weird, since my Pixel 2 will happily stream via BT to a speaker on the opposite side of the kitchen (and inform me via my fitness band of messages received from the next room - and my house has solid internal walls). How could they mess up so badly on something so basic?

 

[tommo47]

My Pixel 3a bluetooth connection is rock solid with my Motorola S9 earphones up to at least six feet distance.

 

[Milo Willamson]

While walking ? I think it is a paradox, then how come my hearing machine devices will not have that strong of a signal?

 

[tommo47]

While walking ? I think it is a paradox, then how come my hearing machine devices will not have that strong of a signal?

No, not while walking. If I'm walking the phone will be at about waist level, in a pocket and the earphones will be on my head which is about 2 to 3 feet away, well within the six feet separation which I know gives a glitch free bluetooth connection between my Pixel and Motorola earphones. That doesn't necessarily mean that every combination of Pixel/earphones will have the same capability, it will depend on the specification of the various earphones.

 

[Milo Willamson]

No, not while walking. If I'm walking the phone will be at about waist level, in a pocket and the earphones will be on my head which is about 2 to 3 feet away, well within the six feet separation which I know gives a glitch free Bluetooth connection.

Really... Well with the moto had to put it by my chest to hear it streaming though, thanks for the input man.
Another reason why I adore this AF

 

[Deleted User]

The soon to arrive Motorola Edge and Edge Plus look interesting. (no Edge Plus for the UK atm)


https://www.techradar.com/uk/reviews/motorola-edge-plus

 

[Hadron]

Personally I'd rather have the Edge than the Edge+. The specs in terms of storage and RAM look adequate, and it has an SD slot which the Edge+ lacks. And to me the 765 is actually more appealing than the 865: sure if you are a gamer you'll want the 865, but I'm not, and the 765 has everything including the "5G modem" integrated into one SoC while the 865 needs a separate chip (and unlike the 855, where you only needed the second chip if you wanted 5G, with the 865 I believe you have to have it). That means more space on the mainboard, more power consumption, more cost, so unless you really need all of the compute power the 765 seems a better bet to me. And yes, I am writing that as someone who has always bought flagship smartphones: I think we've reached the point where the mid-range SoCs are more than good enough, and oddly this year's one is in one imprtant respect actually better than the flagship chip.

Unfortunately in the US you only get the Edge+, though this is the first place I've heard that the UK would only get the Edge.

If you want more technical detail on these handsets there's the Anandtech article: https://www.anandtech.com/show/15742/motorola-announces-new-edge-and-edge-plus.

The question I'd have is what to expect in terms of software support? The last Moto I owned wasn't even a smartphone, so nobody worried about that. But I've heard that they don't usually offer a very long period of OS updates, and if they are going to be asking top dollar for the Edge+ I'd hope that would improve. But of course that's me, and as Moody's settled that it will be a Moto that's not relevant to the discussion since the Edge(+) is not going to be worse than the others.

 

[Deleted User]

I'm inclined to agree the Edge should be the better bet. Same size, SD765 should be great (my now ancient 660 is amazing and efficient), FHD+ Oled screen, h/p jack for me, and I didn't pick up the Plus does not have SD support, though onboard has plenty. I'm not sure about doing without the 104mp main camera though

Seems they will integrate the edges in more practical, interesting and less irritating ways.

The Edge will need a fair price, what with the competition, and the Edge Plus I'm sure would have been exorbitant here and not taken much of the market.

Currently I'm not buying, although if restrictions ease quicker than now expected I'm tempted by the Pixel 3a having refreshed myself on it's hardware. It's a mild step up from my Nokia 7 plus if my eyes can deal with the smaller size.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Okay, so I'm late to my own party!

I read @Hadron's post about the Edges on Off Topic. From there, I went to Motorola and found a 'register for updates' regarding the Edge+, but no mention of the Edge.

Then I read this article comparing the two. That's where I learned that the Edge+ will be Verizon-only, and the Edge not sold in the US. This sucks.

I thought I'd finally found what I was looking for...but apparently not.

 

[Deleted User]

That does suck. It's not written in stone that we in the UK won't get the Plus, some European countries will, but the Edge looks a better bet.
I have a love/hate relationship with Motorola, I had 3, and their marketing decisions, like other OEM's, often don't make sense or lose past customers.

I guess it's a contractual thing with VZ, but it sounds like they don't expect to sell enough.

(posted in the Off Topic Sheep Shearing forum)

 

[Milo Willamson]

At my lovingly sister Moody,
well what do you think what type of phone should I get,
I am spreading out the pros and cons of a Google Pixel, or having back on the moto family because of the finger print secure love..
and I am not a narcissistic either, I rather have a thumb print instead of glancing on my phone... So yeah.
I did the pros and cons on my page late last evening offline.

 

[Milo Willamson]

https://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-s20-5g/ I have instantly fall in love with this!!!!!!

 

[MoodyBlues]

https://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-s20-5g/ I have instantly fall in love with this!!!!!!

It looks good, but it seems like its camera is the big thing about it--as with many other phones. But, as I've said, that's not even a consideration/factor for me. I simply don't care about that aspect of a phone, because I use my Nikon cameras, with assorted lenses, for real photography.

For me, a phone's camera is a plaything, something handy for spur-of-the-moment shots, like when I'm in bed and Joy Noelle pulls one of her cute stunts. But if I ever get back to serious photography, it won't be with a phone.

 

[Hadron]

Phone cameras have got better, to the point where I will actually use them for casual shots (prior to the Pixel I would literally only use my phone camera for photographing receipts, and carried a compact camera for the casual shots - which to be fair still lives in my daysack). And they can be quite good for handling tricky lighting situations (actually mirrorless cameras could incorporate some of the processing tricks they use, if the camera manufacturers thought a bit more creatively about their products). But if you try to take the same shot with my Pixel 2 and my Nikon D7100 (a 7 year old camera) you will also see that a quite highly-rated phone camera is still a toy in comparison.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Phone cameras have got better, to the point where I will actually use them for casual shots (prior to the Pixel I would literally only use my phone camera for photographing receipts, and carried a compact camera for the casual shots - which to be fair still lives in my daysack). And they can be quite good for handling tricky lighting situations (actually mirrorless cameras could incorporate some of the processing tricks they use, if the camera manufacturers thought a bit more creatively about their products). But if you try to take the same shot with my Pixel 2 and my Nikon D7100 (a 7 year old camera) you will also see that a quite highly-rated phone camera is still a toy in comparison.

Exactly! Very well said.

Here's a perfect example, from moments ago, of grabbing my phone for a quick series of pics. Joy Noelle was just debating if her angle, when climbing toward the Temptations bags in the nightstand drawer, would put my full cup of coffee in sufficient jeopardy of spilling:

She's so endlessly entertaining!

 

[Milo Willamson]

So:

Samsung,
or google phones?
Maybe Google pixel 3 if they have them in stock at the store,
the price is way cheaper anyway.

 

[Hadron]

Well the thread starter here is interested in a new Moto: she's had good experience with them and is happy to stick with the brand.
Discussion of other choices for other people probably belongs in its own thread.