Recommend me an unlock smartphone!

So, I'm now in the market to get a new smartphone.

I'm in Canada. And since they change the policy from 3 years to 2 years contract, changing my current data plan is a no-go.

And since I don't want to change my plan, I can't get a discount from my current provider. I do find the provider ok compare to other, so I'm left with buy an unlock phone since I want a new one.

I was looking at an iPhone again, the 5s, with 32 gbs. But it's 839$cad. And a friend of mine showed me his Google Nexus5, which is 399+ shipping for the 32gbs from google store.

Is there any others brand that sell their own cellphone? Or must I got thru the reseller, which can take quite a cut as well ?

Btw, I'm not lock into fight android/iOS, as I did my research what those two can offer me, and both suite me.

I've got a Nexus 5 and love it. Screen is gorgeous, camera is workable, profile is solid. My wife started with a HTC One M8, but swapped it for an S5 after having an intermittent signal issue with it. Both of the phones she had are/were really nice, but I don't think you can beat the Nexus 5 with a stick for the price.

I see two major problems with the Nexus 5: can't swap the battery, and it won't take SD cards. I can get along without the SD, but no battery swapping means that the phone becomes junk when it dies, which seems terribly wasteful.

Malor wrote:

I see two major problems with the Nexus 5: can't swap the battery, and it won't take SD cards. I can get along without the SD, but no battery swapping means that the phone becomes junk when it dies, which seems terribly wasteful.

Do you recommand something ? I was looking at least the size of an iPhone / Nexus5 / Galaxy S5... I don't want too big that it look like I have a tablet on my face :S

I'm not too up on the available phones right now, sadly. I'm still running a Galaxy Nexus, which is a couple of generations old now, as I just don't need any more than that.

If you can find a GSM flavor of that, unlocked and used, they're still pretty good, although there's some issue with the flash getting slow, and I'm not sure if a reformat will fix that.

These are the key features I'd be shopping for, personally:

1. Either unlocked or unlockable;
2. "Rootable" (meaning you can take full control of the phone.)
3. Cross-carrier GSM capable;
4. CyanogenMod compatible (just in case you don't like the carrier software)
5. Removable battery
6. SD card slot (not necessary, but nice if you want to use the phone for music)
7. User-accessible SIM slot (I saw something about some recent phones not having changeable SIMs anymore.)

The Galaxy Nexus had all that, minus the SD slot, but the Nexus 4 and 5 didn't.

It may be that you can no longer get all those features in the same phone anymore. If you can't, the Nexus 5 is one of the better choices; it's fairly cheap, it comes unlocked, it's easily rootable by design, and it runs CyanogenMod. You could definitely do worse.

Malor wrote:

I see two major problems with the Nexus 5: can't swap the battery, and it won't take SD cards. I can get along without the SD, but no battery swapping means that the phone becomes junk when it dies, which seems terribly wasteful.

While it's definitely not intended to be user replaced, it's definitely possible to replace it by all accounts that I'm aware of. As for the SD card thing, I don't really download music to my phone so while that could be problematic, it's not one I'm terribly worried about.

To me, the big sell on it is the price compared to what you get; I feel like your other comparable options all cost nearly twice as much.

While it's definitely not intended to be user replaced, it's definitely possible to replace it by all accounts that I'm aware of.

Oh, I was under the impression it was soldered in there. Is that wrong? Or do you just have to pay someone to solder in a new one?

To me, the big sell on it is the price compared to what you get; I feel like your other comparable options all cost nearly twice as much.

That is a very good point. Amazon's Fire Phone, for example, is exceedingly expensive, and doesn't look much better.

I'm think I'll go with a Nexus5 when I'll have the money, but the 32 gbs one.

Some places around my place do repair or change the battery of that cellphone.

How is the google store btw? Is it somewhat clean like the App Store from Apple?

Malor wrote:
While it's definitely not intended to be user replaced, it's definitely possible to replace it by all accounts that I'm aware of.

Oh, I was under the impression it was soldered in there. Is that wrong? Or do you just have to pay someone to solder in a new one?

To me, the big sell on it is the price compared to what you get; I feel like your other comparable options all cost nearly twice as much.

That is a very good point. Amazon's Fire Phone, for example, is exceedingly expensive, and doesn't look much better.

From everything I've read, it's glued in, and not particularly well at that. Back comes off, and the battery can be pried out with a small amount of pressure.

Manach wrote:

I'm think I'll go with a Nexus5 when I'll have the money, but the 32 gbs one.

Some places around my place do repair or change the battery of that cellphone.

How is the google store btw? Is it somewhat clean like the App Store from Apple?

I haven't had any issues getting stuff from the play store, but I'm fairly discerning about what I get out of there. It's a lot more open than the App store, so there's definitely some junk in there(read malware), but again, so long as you're discerning I don't see it as being an issue, given that the open nature makes it easier for legit small developers to get stuff into the store.

So, update. I just bought the Nexus 5.

Wasn't able to get a better deal thru my current provider, without changing my monthly plan.

I played a little with the Nexus 5 of a coworker, and I liked it.

Tried getting the Galaxy S5 from my provider, but they were asking 699$cad + taxes.

I noticed there is now smartwatch, and the nexus 5 is compatible.

For this new tech, Guess I should wait a few more, as 1 day per charge is not helpful.

So, almost a week in, and I love the Nexus phone.

Easy to use, just had issues with the Google play store, but that's it.

Now, let's hope the phone last fort a while.

That's good news. I really like my Galaxy Nexus, and am pretty unhappy they stopped supporting it.

I've been looking to abandon Verizon, as the bill is still fairly huge at about $75 or so for the most basic plan they offer that has data. The reality is that I don't use that much data because I spend about 80% of my time with available wifi.

Is there a better bang for the buck option than the Nexus 5 as far as unlocked phones? I'm probably going to go with one of the budget providers like Ting or Republic.

I'm currently still on a Galaxy S3, and like it ok, but do wish Samsung didn't force so much extra junk onto it. The Nexus is appealing because it's just... Android. With no stupid skins on top of it.

Yeah, rooting, whatever, I don't want to deal with that. I just want it to work.

Thin_J wrote:

I've been looking to abandon Verizon, as the bill is still fairly huge at about $75 or so for the most basic plan they offer that has data. The reality is that I don't use that much data because I spend about 80% of my time with available wifi.

Is there a better bang for the buck option than the Nexus 5 as far as unlocked phones? I'm probably going to go with one of the budget providers like Ting or Republic.

I'm currently still on a Galaxy S3, and like it ok, but do wish Samsung didn't force so much extra junk onto it. The Nexus is appealing because it's just... Android. With no stupid skins on top of it.

Yeah, rooting, whatever, I don't want to deal with that. I just want it to work.

I have seen a Moto G phone at 249$ CAD at Staples. Guess they would be cheaper in the US.

They are unlock, got support for Android 4.4.4. Gps is in as well. They are suppose to be working with AndroidGear and Watch.

I saw that after I got my Nexus 5.

And if you don't mind chinese cell, they seem nice. Well, they are selling more units in Canada than the US atm. So, it might be harder to find them on your side of the border.

So, one month in and more. All can say so far, I won't be going back to apple for a while. It's a love story with my Nexus5... :$

Well, I'm glad I was able to pin point my needs and not go over board.

Guess I'll now speak with my wallet for cellphones. I just can't justified a 800$ + cellphone anymore.

While the Moto G may be cheaper, I don't know that I'd say it's anywhere near as good a device.

Hey Manach, how's the battery life been with your Nexus 5? I bought one a few months ago and while it gets through the day fine with general use, it drains faster than I think it should and playing games on it completely murders it. I'm not sure if that's the phone's fault though or the fact that Rogers (who I'm stuck with till next June) doesn't give a crap about providing service in anywhere that isn't Toronto. I only get better than 2 bars of LTE service in a handful of places in town and barely any service at all at home and none at work. I'm thinking the battery might be poor cause the radio has to struggle so hard to get signal but I'm not sure. Other than the kind of weak camera, I love my Nexus 5 too.

I'm thinking the battery might be poor cause the radio has to struggle so hard to get signal but I'm not sure.

Well, if you can live without that for awhile, try turning on Airplane Mode and see what your battery does. That's not a smoking gun, because it could also be applications in the background keeping your phone from fully sleeping, but if the battery life stays bad, you can be pretty sure it's not the weak signal.

Yeah, I do need to try that and see how it works. Since I basically get no signal in my office at work, it won't impact much. I'll try that on Monday.

I got no signal as well in my work office. They do supply WiFi, I don't know if that kill it.

Yeah, I play games as well, nornaly I can get like 8-10 hours if I play games.

If I let it at home, normally, it goes like 10-15% down when I'm back at home. So, that's like 8 hours away.

Somewhat better than my iPhone tho. 4 hours, and it was dead...

My work neighbor told me the screen lightning might be the biggest battery drainer. When I go into the options and look at the battery experience, the screen is always on top.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:

Hey Manach, how's the battery life been with your Nexus 5? I bought one a few months ago and while it gets through the day fine with general use, it drains faster than I think it should and playing games on it completely murders it. I'm not sure if that's the phone's fault though or the fact that Rogers (who I'm stuck with till next June) doesn't give a crap about providing service in anywhere that isn't Toronto. I only get better than 2 bars of LTE service in a handful of places in town and barely any service at all at home and none at work. I'm thinking the battery might be poor cause the radio has to struggle so hard to get signal but I'm not sure. Other than the kind of weak camera, I love my Nexus 5 too. :)

The battery life on my Nexus 5 has been great so far, haven't really quantified number of hours, but I can say I can check twitter on the train ride in and out of the city. Take into account that by comparison it's wayyyyy better than my last phone, a HTC Desire HD, that wouldn't really last a full day of use.

I generally don't use the phone outside, so the brightness is ~20% most of the time. I don't do calls very often. Reception at my house is s*** (though not quite as bad as yours sounds, PX).