Which Verizon phone?

I've had my Droid Turbo since 2015, and it's telling me it's going to need to go away soon. I replaced the non-replaceable battery earlier this year without too much difficulty, but it's resumed the random shutting down that it was doing before the new battery.

I don't need the latest and greatest, and I'm not going to consider an Apple product, so don't even go there. I don't want an almost-tablet size; I'm going to buy a tablet eventually for autocross data.

Uses: surfing GRM etc., news (WP, NYTimes apps), texting, voice calls, occasional podcast streaming (I lost my wireless ear buds, so a headphone jack would be useful but not essential), photos, occasional video. I have the Sony app for my camera, and the Garmin app for my new Virb Ultra 30. At work, I use it to calculate drug doses. I have the Torque app on my current phone, but it would never pair with either of the OBD dongles that I've tried.

My kids talked me in to a Moto G6 Play to replace my state-of-the-art flip-phone.  I don't do "apps" or any of that stuff, but as a phone and texting device it seems to work well.  I know it was fairly cheap. 

Normally I would say ALL APPLE ALL THE TIME but mine has been letting me down more and more. I kinda want a rugged phone like this:

I upgraded about 6 months ago from a Droid turbo to a Motorola G7.  It's roughly comparable to the turbo.  The turbo was a pretty expensive phone so it was upmarket in 2015, the G7 is mid-range so there are some direct spec compromise.  Cost is <300 depending on which one you get.  I have just the G7 and got an unlocked one from best buy for $250.

+Still had Moto actions, hand hover t wake up, shake to flashlight, twist to camera; decent enough camera; similar size it's not HUGE; fingerprint scan is nice; battery life it will last all day but not much more with heavy use; USB C so the chargers last longer then Mico USB and they aren't 3 sided so it doesn't take 6 attempts to get it oriented right; memory slot for Mico sd

-no wireless charging; the camera sticks out and the back is smooth do you have to get a case; USB C so you have to get all new charger cables.  

Pixel 2 and OnePlus 5 were the cream of the crop in 2017 and still hold up brilliantly today.  They were the first generation of the new snapdragon processor.  If you're just looking for a phone to do phone-y things, play games, surf, navigate, etc, take advantage of their depreciation.  50% the cost of the latest, must-have phones with 90% of the performance.

I bought a pixel 2 during the first week they were released and have abused it for a couple years and I love everything about it.  It was down to those two choices above and I had a really tough time choosing.  The only thing that swayed me to the Pixel over the OnePlus was that the One+ was sold out with no estimated restock date.

I used to be die-hard Samsung and Motorola, but after venturing off into the "underdogs" I will never again pay the premium for the big name brand.  The other big benefit to the underdogs is that you can easily buy them retail as an unlocked phone and then they don't come with the Verizon bloatware.  My SWMBO's nearly-new Samsung G8 from Verizon isn't half the phone my 2-year-old Pixel is... mostly due to the mandatory Verizon crap stuffed into it.  If you have the cash to buy a phone retail and not go to a Verizon store, you'll be rewarded... not only with skipping finance charges on a monthly phone payment, but having a clean phone makes a WORLD of difference in its performance.

I'd vote either the pixel or the oneplus. I'm a tech whore and went to the OnePlus 7 pro, and it's awesome. I have to imagine the older ones are awesome, just older. 

I'll third the OnePlus suggestion. I bought a OnePlus 6T earlier this year because I couldn't find any better performance per dollar. I've been very satisfied with it and know a couple of other people who would tell the same story.

I broke my Moto G6 Play so I moved on to a Moto G7 Power. 

It's called Power because it has a 5000mh battery. It really does last for days and recharges super fast. At $200 for an unlocked version, it has been great. 

I've done a bit of looking into this recently as one of my sons wanted to potentially get off of his Apple phone (iPhone SE).  We were looking at the <$400 market, with a preference to be below $300 is possible.  All of these phones are going to be bigger than an iPhone 8, probably similar size to an iPhone 8 plus.  No one makes a phone as small as an iPhone 8 now, other than Apple.  What I found was:

Pixel 3a - $350-400 - This is considered to be the leader in the mid-range market.  It gives you very close to Pixel 3 performance, at a mid range price.  You pay a little more than the other mid range phones, but it has great performance, battery life, and the same camera app as the Pixel 3.  It also has a pretty clean Android install and is guaranteed updates for several years.  It is the all-around best phone.  Just and FYI, the first gen Pixel (3 years old now) is getting it's final update from google this december, so that gives you an idea on the support lifetime.

Motorola G7 - $250-300 - Great value.  I believe it is an Android One phone, meaning updates for 3 years, with at least one Major Android release update (like Oreo to Pie to Android 10).  Performance is decent.  Camera is decent.  If you can side-load the Pixel camera app onto the phone, you can take advantage of some of the software processing enhancements.  Being Android One, it is a pretty vanilla Android experience, with just the Motorola gestures added ons, so it makes for a nice experience.  There are two additional versions of the G7, G7 Play and G7 Power.  Both have a lower performance chip than the G7 and lower res displays but they are cheaper.  The Play is meant for games, and Power is physically larger with a much bigger battery for longer life.  If you are looking for a phone to do phone things, these would be pretty good to look at.

Nokia 7.1 - 250-350 - Very nice design.  Good perf, decent camera.  Battery life is sub-standard for the capacity.  My son loved the look and feel of this phone best.  Nokia recently released the 7.2, an upgrade to the 7.1, but there hasn't been any feedback about the battery life.  Android One again, so pretty clean install, good support, multiple Android updates (7.1 came out on Oreo, has gotten an update to Pie, and I believe 10 will be out soon).  The 7.1 was only approved for use on Verizon networks within the last couple of months.  You will need to make sure that the phone is running a specific version of software to work on Verizon.  This phone has a distinctly higher-end feel to the materials than either the Pixel or G7.

We went to best buy to try these out.  I would suggest getting some hands-on time just to see how you like them.

I'd personally go with the Pixel 3a. Same great camera as the Pixel 3, and it's reduced specs aren't going to matter to someone who's still using a phone from 2015.

I quit the Samsung Galaxy phones after the S5 and moved to LG. I currently have a V20 that's been a great phone. I'm probably going to replace it soon with an LG G7 thinq or V30 only because the camera lens is scratched - I'm hard on phones. The LG phones are a bit of an underdog in the market, but well worth considering against the others.

My wife still uses a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and hopes that it will last forever. A great device that is hard to find flaw with. New batteries and a 128 GB memory card have kept it rollin' along.

Do not get a Pixel. Google updated the software when the 4 dropped and now my 3 and the GF's 2 have been POS's. I can't wait to get rid of this piece of malware crap and go back to a Galaxy.

Seconded for the Nokia's. I own a 6.1 I got for ~$225 and I can't imagine getting a top of the line ANYTHING when it does it all so well with 3.1 USB. Battery life is good too, and has an SD card.

Funny enough, I also upgraded from a Droid- mine is now a dedicated workout MP3 player lmao

I've been very happy with my ebay $130 Pixel 2. It's hard to beat at that price point, and though I use my phone more often than I thought I would, I am not spending double, triple, or whatever for something much better.

nocones said:

I upgraded about 6 months ago from a Droid turbo to a Motorola G7.  It's roughly comparable to the turbo.  The turbo was a pretty expensive phone so it was upmarket in 2015, the G7 is mid-range so there are some direct spec compromise.  Cost is <300 depending on which one you get.  I have just the G7 and got an unlocked one from best buy for $250.

+Still had Moto actions, hand hover t wake up, shake to flashlight, twist to camera; decent enough camera; similar size it's not HUGE; fingerprint scan is nice; battery life it will last all day but not much more with heavy use; USB C so the chargers last longer then Mico USB and they aren't 3 sided so it doesn't take 6 attempts to get it oriented right; memory slot for Mico sd

-no wireless charging; the camera sticks out and the back is smooth do you have to get a case; USB C so you have to get all new charger cables.  

How long have you been using it? I'm thinking about getting myself and the gf one for Xmas this year because my X4 is on its way out and she wants to come to FI. 

I'm totally off the reservation here, and I'm going to tell you: Blackberry.  I just got a Key2LE about a month ago, and its been a great phone.  Verizon does sell them; used to be for businesses only but if you dig around their website they will sell you one as an individual.  The camera on it is stellar, the tactile keyboard is awesome for email and text- AND- the big kicker, they now run Android, so they're compatible with pretty much whatever apps. 

Battery life so far seems good.  I'll charge it over night and still have 50% battery life at the end of the day.  Its got a normal old headphone jack, too.  

About $450 thru Verizon.  No bloatware, no BS, just a good solid phone.  

My Pixel 2 has been basically flawless for the 2 years since I bought. Battery still lasts all day (I'm not a heavy user or power hungry apps or anything).

Does anybody know how the Pixel 3 compares to the Iphone 8? They seem to be close to price, the Iphone 8 is water resistant, the Pixel 3 is a little bigger and has a better camera. 

John Welsh said:

I broke my Moto G6 Play so I moved on to a Moto G7 Power. 

It's called Power because it has a 5000mh battery. It really does last for days and recharges super fast. At $200 for an unlocked version, it has been great. 

Thats what I have and I  am happy with it ,  battery life is amazing .....

trigun7469 said:

Does anybody know how the Pixel 3 compares to the Iphone 8? They seem to be close to price, the Iphone 8 is water resistant, the Pixel 3 is a little bigger and has a better camera. 

My Pixel 3 was brilliant. Was. The last major software update nearly bricked the phone and the three patches since have not fixed all the issues. 

I'm still rocking the original Pixel XL Google gave away for free to all of us Nexus 6P buyers. Battery is declining noticeably.

I'd get a new one, but they all seem to be the exact same thing these days and it's not like reading my email or ordering from eBay/Amazon requires something fancy.

In reply to FuzzWuzzy :

I'm in the exact same boat, I was hoping the 4 would knock my socks off. And I'd really like to stay with a pixel for the unlimited cloud storage, but the BB, Nokia and Motorola options are tempting from a hardware standpoint, but the Google software and support still have me leaning towards another pixel in the future. 

It's the only phone I've had for 3 years that hasn't been a disaster by this point. 

In reply to pinchvalve :

I have that. Kyocera Duraforce Pro 2. 

Great phone.

Javelin said:

trigun7469 said:

Does anybody know how the Pixel 3 compares to the Iphone 8? They seem to be close to price, the Iphone 8 is water resistant, the Pixel 3 is a little bigger and has a better camera. 

My Pixel 3 was brilliant. Was. The last major software update nearly bricked the phone and the three patches since have not fixed all the issues. 

I have a pixel 3 and haven't noticed any glaring recent issues? Only reason I bought the pixel over a Samsung equivalent was being able to use this phone on any carrier. A minor plus was no bloatware. Negative is no expandable storage.

Lot of replies here, thanks to all.

Which ever one I choose, I have already learned to buy an unlocked one after reading this discussion.