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At an impasse. Need a new phone.

codezer0

Android Expert
Jan 23, 2013
859
291
Arizona
Okay, this might seem like a re-run for some, but some new events have more or less forced my hand to ask again... and vent some frustration. no tl;dr for you.

At the time, I bought the Moto X Pure, having to settle on it, because I was at first eyeing the unlocked LG G4, until contacting LG for information about it and they expressed that regardless of whether it was purchased new or at retail, no unlocked LG phones have any warranty at all, anywhere. This forced me to look elsewhere, and of the time, only the MXPE had the universal carrier support, while still retaining a usable SD slot for storage expansion. This was in April 2016.

Since then, its factory charger completely died within two months, forcing me to shop for additional quick chargers, in part because it would take a day and a half (yes, 36 hours) to charge from dead to full otherwise. Over a dozen ruined USB cables later, and as of two days ago, the phone now decides that it won't accept a quick charge from anything, anywhere, anymore. And having two jobs, I need the navigation on the other one. And of course it will happily burn down its battery while still plugged in to charge.

So, against my will, I know this phone is dying. And presently, I can't even find a replacement battery for the thing anywhere near its original MSRP, nor any way to reassemble the thing correctly, since the ifixit guide only shows how to take it apart and doesn't even acknowledge the fact that part of the process will ruin the adhesive that holds the back plate to the phone. There's no instructions at all to what to do about that to get it to reassemble properly.

While I have been with T-Mobile for about... three(?) years total now, here's the thing. I've been burned so many times, by so many carriers in the past, I can't bring myself to simply get a carrier locked phone anymore. Especially knowing that just one move or even as little as one year of updates or maintenance can turn solid service into a useless brick. I'm tired of carrier bloat. I'm tired of firmware embedded ads. I'm tired of arbitrary apps I never use being unable to be uninstalled.

I really don't care about having "latest and greatest" in terms of phone fashion. I'd really rather just buy a phone once, outright, and have it last me three or more years at a time. All I see now, are phones being sold that are $1000+ and then are built to not even last a year, given what my MXPE has been like. No phone is worth that much to basically rent. I'd sooner rather save that money to finally have a laptop, or PC upgrades, than for any phone.

Based on my needs, it seems like only the Unlocked V20 would be the only thing that even comes close. Because nobody will make something that meets all of my needs, at any price point. and my biggest problem with this MXPE has been all traced back to its miserable **** of a battery, forcing me to have to constantly keep it on a charging brick and ruining cables left, right, back and front.

What's rage inducing is that yesterday I check on Amazon and find they dropped the price again. but funds were not in for me to be able to afford it (especially not with them advertising free shipping and then slapping me with an extra $50 in taxes. WTF?! ). Well, today, money is in the bank for me to suffle around and clear enough balance to buy the thing, but Amazon blocked it out to only Prime members may purchase this. I'm apocalyptically PISSED OFF about that, right now. :maddroid: I don't want Amazon Prime, because Amazon has screwed up so many of my prior orders in the past that they sure as hell don't deserve any more than absolutely necessary.

Meanwhile, T-Mobile itself still charges $500 for their V20, that sure as hell won't work on anyone else's network even after being paid off for. I've yet to have what I'd call a good experience buying anything from eBay, let alone something complex like a smart phone. Annoyingly, about the only phone I could say that would still work for me if I had to finance it, would be the iPhone 6S Plus... but that would have its own frustrations, again, in large part to the battery that was already a problem with this MXPE. Objectively, the tear down and reassembly are easier than it is for this XPE.

So... I don't know what the hell else I can do. Because the place that currently has the best price for a new phone, won't let me buy it without some kind of stupid membership. :spitoutdroid:
 
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Not high end flagships, but... removable battery, SD card slot, works on the 4 main carriers, and both under $200:

Moto E4
Moto G4 Play



Well... I mean, I'm assuming the above is what you're looking for since you didn't list your needs. :thinking: ;)
Already not happy with the fact Motorola refused to warranty my mxpe when it's factory charger died.

Problem is nobody makes an extended battery for either model you've mentioned.

I'm fed up, sick, and tired, of having to lug around a cinder block of an external battery because I was already having to do so twice a day for this Moto x pure. Or how I would see it absolutely refuse to increase charge percentage at all when I have to use it. It's especially true at my second job, where I can't function without being able to use navigation.
 
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Amazon has a history of screwing things up with orders for me.
I've had orders not get shipped at all.
Orders shipped more than a month later.
Orders shipped to wrong addresses.

Amazon has not been a pleasant place to shop. If not for being at times the only place to actually get certain items I need, I would have nuked my account with them years ago.

Knowing my history with them, I for damn sure don't want anything to do with a prime membership. And there is no reason for it to be paywalled in the first place, when it wasn't even paywalled even a day ago.:maddroid: with their history with me, they're just as likely to bill me for it immediately and then take six months to get the charge off my card.
 
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Okay, checking around, I see Newegg is selling the US996 LG V20 as well. At a higher price presently, but they do offer Price Match, according to their site. They also offer the option to purchase a 4-year warranty from SquareTrade. I find myself debating whether I should get it.

Immediately, the obvious benefit is from the face of it, a painless replacement plan if I ever have problems with the phone, and the explicit statement that there is no deductible required like I would have if I financed a phone with T-Mobile. The most immediate downside would simply be basically that I wouldn't be able to afford the ZeroLemon battery and screen protectors I was looking to having with it right away. Also, I've never done anything involving Square Trade. Does anyone who would be reading this have any experience with them? Would it be worth the $100 to go to that instead of my original plan of the extended battery and screen protector right away?

I just need to figure out if Newegg would indeed price match with Amazon, because I have had typically excellent experience doing business with the 'egg. :thumbsupdroid:
 
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Well, either way, in any direction, Newegg can't do it.

At this point, I'm demoralized here, because it's like I'm being forced to rent a phone that won't be any good for what I need now, nor be any good if I go get it unlocked to take with me anywhere else.

Literally the only phone model that even has a chance to work on another carrier if I had to get it from T-Mobile, would be an iPhone 6S or newer. iPhone 7's upset me with the loss of the headphone jack, and the jacked up price.

I'm fed up with phones being at $800+ and basically made to be disposable. It hurt spending $400 on this MXPE just to literally have it fall to pieces on me within a year, while shredding over a dozen USB cables in the process in its quest for self-destruction. For the kind of waste of spending that kind of money to have a phone that won't work if I have to switch carriers again, I'd do better putting it towards a complete custom loop for my PC, or a 1080 Ti. I'd get a lot more mileage out of either than having to blow it on a new phone. :thumbsdowndroid:
 
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Second job? One day job is enough for me.
It certainly wasn't by choice to take on a second job; it was necessity, in order to make ends meet during the summer where I tend to make less than I usually do. My primary job is tied to the school year. In any case...

This situation irks me, especially considering that I know the individual aspects exist to create what would be n ideal phone for me, my needs and wants. However, no manufacturer wants to actually try to make that happen. And then I get these vapid and blank stares from people that spend their work days in an office, never away from an outlet or WiFi range, who don't understand how and why this stuff matters to me.

It was a bitter enough pill to have spent $400+ on the mxpe last year. I was expecting it to last at least two years. If it had went South on me April 2018, I would be annoyed, but far less upset with that context. But now all I see is companies wanting to charge $800+ for a phone that lasts even less per charge and with a sealed battery, wanting a 24 month payment plan for a phone that at best will only last me six months. And that's just inexcusable.

I know lg made radios capable of connecting to all carriers for a single phone. They had to, for the Nexus. But they won't put this in any of their g or v series phones. So, what the hell man?
 
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I can't seem to recall why the phones you think would only last you 6mos.
I've never, ever, had a phone from any brand, with a nonremovable battery, that's not drastically lost it's average battery life within then. Or where it's ability to get signal hasn't degraded.

I've also never had a phone on contract or payments that didn't die with a year or more left to still pay on it. As bad as this mxpe is for degrading so quickly, it's still lasted longer than any phone I've had as part of some kind of finance or contract.

While I need a phone for day to day, and it is kind of a "it has to work" thing, it doesn't make sense for me to spend that kind of money if I'm either just going to have to resort to renting it, or basically replacing it twice a year because of defects. Honestly for the $800 asking price of a pixel, for example, I'd rather spend that money on everything for a custom water loop in my PC, or even a 1080ti, for example. Something like that would still be useful three, five, or more years compared to what these companies want me to spend for a phone. Considering I was able to game happily on a GTX 285 for the best part of seven years? Yea, good PC parts tend to last me way longer for my hard earned money.
 
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I've never, ever, had a phone from any brand, with a nonremovable battery, that's not drastically lost it's average battery life within then. Or where it's ability to get signal hasn't degraded.

I've also never had a phone on contract or payments that didn't die with a year or more left to still pay on it. As bad as this mxpe is for degrading so quickly, it's still lasted longer than any phone I've had as part of some kind of finance or contract.

While I need a phone for day to day, and it is kind of a "it has to work" thing, it doesn't make sense for me to spend that kind of money if I'm either just going to have to resort to renting it, or basically replacing it twice a year because of defects. Honestly for the $800 asking price of a pixel, for example, I'd rather spend that money on everything for a custom water loop in my PC, or even a 1080ti, for example. Something like that would still be useful three, five, or more years compared to what these companies want me to spend for a phone. Considering I was able to game happily on a GTX 285 for the best part of seven years? Yea, good PC parts tend to last me way longer for my hard earned money.

Can't say I can help you find a phone in such a situation. Your usage pattern seems drastically different from mine, considering my 4 year old Note 2 was happily running on the original battery until it was accidentally water damaged a month ago (it was already handed over to my mom then). It still lasted 2 days on the original battery on my mom's usage pattern (after I already used it for 2 years). Heck I'm still using my 3 year old Tab 4 and it has no problems, still lasts about 2 days on a single charge on standby. Yours seems to be an outlier usage pattern, hence it's not taken into account by manufacturer research, or deemed too minor to give up on the majority who prefers "beautiful" phones as opposed to certain options like removable batteries.Then you're hampered by the crazy carrier policies in the US. Their policies are just so weird, coming from my point of view.

Have you checked the GSMArena Advanced Search to look for specific models?
http://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3?
 
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Can't say I can help you find a phone in such a situation. Your usage pattern seems drastically different from mine, considering my 4 year old Note 2 was happily running on the original battery until it was accidentally water damaged a month ago (it was already handed over to my mom then). It still lasted 2 days on the original battery on my mom's usage pattern (after I already used it for 2 years). Heck I'm still using my 3 year old Tab 4 and it has no problems, still lasts about 2 days on a single charge on standby. Yours seems to be an outlier usage pattern, hence it's not taken into account by manufacturer research, or deemed too minor to give up on the majority who prefers "beautiful" phones as opposed to certain options like removable batteries.Then you're hampered by the crazy carrier policies in the US. Their policies are just so weird, coming from my point of view.

Have you checked the GSMArena Advanced Search to look for specific models?
http://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3?
If I tick "Removable battery: Yes" and at least the known 700mhz LTE bands (12, 13, 17) to cover AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, I get a grand total of... 2, results.
Galaxy S5 Neo, and Moto E4.

None of them have an extended battery option.

At this point I would seriously consider going back to my SM-N900 note 3... if not for the fact that far as I'm aware, all the carriers have shut off, or are shutting off, everything less than 4G for network access. :(
 
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