After yet another internet disconnection (at random) on my HTC one V, and needing to reboot it, I ended up deciding to get a new phone. I wish I could say I made an informed decision based on my needs and requirements
I didn’t want to pay too much for it (since I’d be buying it off contract), I was buying it off contract since I had a grandfathered 3g plan that gave me a whopping 12gb of data that I hardly used. It wouldn’t need 3g. I wanted something that wasn’t loaded up with unremovable applications from telcos from *every country in the region* . I sort of liked the size of the one V but the chin made it arkward on the pocket.
I wanted something fast, stable, and not likely to decide to suddenly, and oddly decide that it couldn’t find a DNS server.
I’d decided to get the moto G anyway, and well, it ticked all these boxes. I wouldn’t say its entirely stock – it has a camera application that took a while to get used to (and is one place where I’d miss the one V for a while), but there’s no silly application from telekom indoglossia cluttering it up. The biggest tradeoff, I suppose would be the SD card. I’ve tended to put the biggest microsd card I could ‘in case I needed it’. On my tablet, its usually proven quite useful since I occasionally watch movies on it. Even on the One V, I never really ran out of space. Considering I have wifi through the local free wifi network, and more network bandwidth than I can use, I’ll survive. If I need a load of space, there’s always a USB OTG adaptor and a USB key, no? My retailer threw in a flip-front case. Apparently they didn’t have black, so I went with blue. It replaces the back cover, and is an integral part of the phone, which is a lot slicker than a third party case.
I’ve always been of the opinion that <4 inch screens were the ‘right’ size. I used to have those tiny tiny candy bar nokias, and considered them the ‘perfect’ size. On the one hand, I found that typing with the screen on a keyboard that size was a pain. On the other hand, an excessively large screen meant you’d need both hands to operate the phone. I kind of like the 4.5 inch screen on the Moto, since its large enough for someone with reasonably large hands to use one handed (or as I call it, pawfriendly), yet pocketable.
The moto has a lot of good reviews and with good reason. While long delayed, the moto is one heck of a polished, fast and usable device that probably punches above its cost-bracket. Pity it’s the last generation of google/moto phones with the lenovo acquisition, but lenovo takes a while before they start mucking with things from my experience.
As for my One V? I suspected that the problem was with the firmware, and HTC dosen’t seem terribly inclined to update it. I got it unlocked, installed clockworkmod recovery, then went over to HTC dev and experimented with a few roms. The Pomega rom seems to work (other than the camera app), and another one didn’t work wirelessly. While the phone bit works, I ended up switching it over to flight mode, and turning on wireless.
Its a lot faster feeling and cleaner, so it was probably worth it. Its still a decent spare phone.