So it looks like the Nexus 5 has gone EOL and the Nexus 6 is going for $650 to $700. What will be the next big bargain in unlocked android phones? It's not really a bargain but I'm liking how the Droid Turbo is looking.
I don't get the Nexus line... I think it caters to iPhone converts, and Apple-esq wannabe elitists. They want to use vanilla Android, but most of the coolest enhancements of Android come from OEM overlays. Every cool Android widget came from HTC Sense, and the best productivity mod came from Samsung Touchwiz (who are still the only ones doing multi-window tasking). If you strip out enhancements you're left with a buggy iOS clone that doesn't do anything particularly well. You're better off getting any Android phone and using CyanogenMod, who add back many enhancements.
One persons enhancements is another persons bloatware. I like the idea of starting with a clean slate and then building on top of that with whatever I want. If I want touchwiz I can get a clone in the Play store. Cool widgets? Tons of them in the play store as well.
Touchwiz is horrid, vanilla Android is the best mobile operating system I have used on a phone and lollipop looks fantastic, looking forward to getting it on our devices. My wife is an iOS to vanilla convert and would never go back. I used 8.01 on an iPhone 6 last week and I found it really unintuitive. Its all about preference and for me iOS is a pretty naff OS.
Touchwiz is a definitive example of bloatware. But, it's the only way to run multiple simultaneous apps in Android. I've always felt that was an acceptable trade off. I probably fall into the power user / PC replacement category. Ain't nobody got time to run one app across the whole screen. Not sure what a naff is, I'm going to assume boring. But I found the iPhone the most intuitive while the Samsung hand me frustrated with it's ridiculously long settings menu with even more ridiculously long sub-settings menus.
I don't like the menus much on a Samsung either, Vanilla has very small menus with very clear headings. Samsung menus are confusing and too much, I think they tried to give you lots of headings with a few options but it makes finding anything really hard. If you can't tell I really hate Touchwiz, it brings everything it runs on to its knees. Nothing chugs and groans quite like a Samsung device! Vanilla Android is being cleaned up so much at the moment due to Lollipop, the new look is smooth and sleek. Things like the new Gmail or Hangout apps show this off and even apps like Tapatalk and Twitch have followed suit and used the same look. Oddly my Moto G has the nice new Gmail app but neither my wife's or my mates Nexus 5 do.
I powered off my cell phone the other day for a few hours and then turned it back on. When it came on again it said the SIM card had been removed. That was kind of odd but whats really weird is I turned it off when I entered a place where cell phones were supposed to be off. So I'm wondering if the CIA zapped it with gamma rays to make sure it was turned off and that reset my SIM.
I'd have my eye on an Asus Zen Phone 2 if I was in the market for one. But I've never felt the need for a smartphone (especially with my tablet taking care of any kind of mobile 'curiosity' I may have) so. Just watched a YT review of the Nokia N2 tablet not the fastest or 'gamer friendly' like my Shield Tablet but BOY does that N2 look solid for a cheap 4:3 media server type device. It's like a cheap Nexus 9 with Intel proc. in fact the current non-google play compatible version looks most attractive to me . (figured I'd find it for ya rather than just talk about it) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTEh-mxOr68