Smartphone upgrade opinions

[lens]

http://www.gsmarena.com/blackberry_priv-7587.php

I was thinking on upgrading my Xperia Z2 soon, and I'm not sure what to get next.

However, the new blackberry caught my eye as it looks good.

Any opinions?

[shoei]

Depends on what you're using it for...

1. This will most likely be BB's last phone - outsourced or not to Foxconn, this is it...

2. Do you use Windows or Mac? Do you have iTunes and utilize it?

3. Global requirements?

4. GSM / CDMA??

I'm assuming GSM considering you're using Z2... Heard good things about Z4?

I would like to switch to android but I use Mac / I have an iPad and a ton of music in iTunes... Convenience factor for me just leads me to iPhone...

[dreamingat30fps]

Blackberry is still kicking? Damn!

[protecon]

OnePlus 2

[lens]

Originally Posted by shoei

Depends on what you're using it for...

1. This will most likely be BB's last phone - outsourced or not to Foxconn, this is it...

2. Do you use Windows or Mac? Do you have iTunes and utilize it?

3. Global requirements?

4. GSM / CDMA??

I'm assuming GSM considering you're using Z2... Heard good things about Z4?

I would like to switch to android but I use Mac / I have an iPad and a ton of music in iTunes... Convenience factor for me just leads me to iPhone...

I have a seperate ipod for music so don't really use phone for music. Using windows.

[gtron]

Originally Posted by chaungo

http://www.gsmarena.com/blackberry_priv-7587.php

I was thinking on upgrading my Xperia Z2 soon, and I'm not sure what to get next.

However, the new blackberry caught my eye as it looks good.

Any opinions?

i preordered the nexus 6p because i thought it was lg, the latest os, instant updates, and no bloatware.

i returned it because it turns out only the nexus 5x was by lg and the 6p was made by huawei. if you're from asia (i'm not but i go there enough) you know that's a cheap company that makes junk. maybe that's just my opinion but i can't help thinking that every time i held it. additionally, they changed the cable so that was annoying that i would need to buy three new cables. i'm petty, oh well.

i ended up grabbing the note 5. i suffer from t-mobile and samsungs preinstalled apps but other than that the phone is just a work of art. it's hard to use anything else after. mind you, i had a note 4 before so it was a natural transition.

gluck!

[NEFARIOUS]

Personally, I've always had an affinity for Motorola due to long battery life and fast processor, not to mention their latest Droid Turbo 2 is guaranteed shatterproof with free exchanges if you do manage to drop one the wrong way. My rugged Incipio case makes the phone feel too bulky. Also for the BB, even though the slide out keyboard is tempting, I heard reviews say it's too small and becomes top-heavy when extended.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by gtron

i preordered the nexus 6p because i thought it was lg, the latest os, instant updates, and no bloatware.

i returned it because it turns out only the nexus 5x was by lg and the 6p was made by huawei. if you're from asia (i'm not but i go there enough) you know that's a cheap company that makes junk. maybe that's just my opinion but i can't help thinking that every time i held it. additionally, they changed the cable so that was annoying that i would need to buy three new cables. i'm petty, oh well.

i ended up grabbing the note 5. i suffer from t-mobile and samsungs preinstalled apps but other than that the phone is just a work of art. it's hard to use anything else after. mind you, i had a note 4 before so it was a natural transition.

gluck!

There are bigger reasons not to buy anything from Huawei. First, they were caught infringing on Cisco's intellectual property.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07...wei_case_ends/

The second reason is there is substantial evidence Huawei products poses security and espionage risks. So much so the US Government has banned their use in any Federal IT implementation and in any critical commercial infrastructure to include wireless backbones. It isn't just the US Government but the Australian Government has also issued similar guidelines. Huawei's reputation isn't aided by the fact it's being run by a former Chinese intelligence officer.

[NEFARIOUS]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

There are bigger reasons not to buy anything from Huawei. First, they were caught infringing on Cisco's intellectual property.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07...wei_case_ends/

The second reason is there is substantial evidence Huawei products poses security and espionage risks. So much so the US Government has banned their use in any Federal IT implementation and in any critical commercial infrastructure to include wireless backbones. It isn't just the US Government but the Australian Government has also issued similar guidelines. Huawei's reputation isn't aided by the fact it's being run by a former Chinese intelligence officer.

Not to mention as a former employee of a GSA contractor, it has been long established that China is not part of the Trade Agreement Act, and the government is prohibited from buying merchandise made or substantially assembled in China or any other non-TAA country.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by NEFARIOUS

Not to mention as a former employee of a GSA contractor, it has been long established that China is not part of the Trade Agreement Act, and the government is prohibited from buying merchandise made or substantially assembled in China or any other non-TAA country.

To be more specific, TAA compliance means the item has to be substantially transformed in a country recognized to be favorable to the US. We can't kid ourselves. Most everything electronic is made in China. There's no way around it. The fear by security professionals and governments is when a company based in China controls the product development and supply chain. With China's known track record of state sponsored cyber hacking of both government and commercial systems, the fear is well founded with any company based in China. This is the world we live in when we've pretty much sold off our souls for cheap components. The US Federal Government has recognized this national security situation and as a result the Department of Energy has a program to manufacture chips/electronic components for national security sensitive equipment controlled by the Federal Government deemed too risky to bid out to the private sector.

Other companies provide their own programs which gives the US Government extra assurance of the security of the product the US Government receives known as secure supply chain. This was highlighted when counterfeit components for many of Cisco's routers were being found injected into legitimate supply chains sourced from Chinese factories. The FBI with Cisco was running an investigation and sting on finding individuals responsible for this major breach in product assurance. The operation was exposed when someone leaked an internal PowerPoint presentation onto the Internet. This caused the FBI to move on arrests they were planning on making but were waiting on additional individuals to be implicated. I personally saw the PowerPoint presentation and the comparisons between a counterfeit HWIC T1 card used in Cisco's ISR routers and a genuine one. You have to be hardware engineer at Cisco to tell the difference. In the case of the HWIC T1 card, it boiled down to the sheen of the retaining screws where the counterfeit ones were a bit duller than the genuine cards and the inductor on the counterfeit card was different than the genuine card. The investigation was triggered by a large number of failures Cisco was dealing with under their support warranties. This was the best scenario where the components were just failing. The worst is if these components had hidden spyware components/code injected into them.

ETA: Here's a website that has the graphics of the FBI PowerPoint slides: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread350381/pg1

[bosstones]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

In the case of the HWIC T1 card, it boiled down to the sheen of the retaining screws where the counterfeit ones were a bit duller than the genuine cards and the inductor on the counterfeit card was different than the genuine card.

In some cases, the counterfeit part actually 'looks nicer' than the real part (e.g. silk screening or case stamping/labeling is crisper/cleaner looking).

It is true, though, that the royal 'we' have sold our souls for cheap components/parts/goods. I hate it. Quality suffers from this. One might save a little in the short term, but when they have to replace the item sooner because the QA/QC was not there....what good did the upfront savings do?

Back on the topic of cell phones, even though it is now Lenovo, I've always used and been happy w/ Motorola phones. Currently using the Turbo; primarily because of how sturdy my past Mot phones were and also because of the battery life. Turbo 2, as someone stated, is guaranteed not to shatter, but that doesn't mean you can't crack it. It is also a plastic, not glass. Personally, I could care less as long as it worked. I also go by a 'bend' test. If I can flex the phone, I don't buy it because I know I'll break it. Samsung and Sony all had phones I could easily bend to a fair degree (that's why I didn't by the Z3 over the Turbo).