The technical problems with the phones have included a sim card holder that does not work (so the sim card is not recognized), a wireless/bluetooth antenna that does not work (if you check around on the Internet you’ll find this to be a very common problem with the Samsung Galaxy S4), or the 4g not working

I don’t have any of these problems and the miscellaneous files don’t take up several GB either (2.15 GB actually). I can only think that the “new” phones that Verizon supplies are a bit dodgy and you are better off not “upgrading” an S4 to Lollipop.

you can buy the Samsung Galaxy S4 for several hundred dollars

If you’re going to stump up several hundred dollars for a “new” phone then it had better be a really new phone. Verizon have ripped you off if you paid that for a refurbished phone. I don’t know about the US but here in Aus there are several types of sources for brand new phones which you can then use with a large choice of network resellers.

“Last week a push software upgrade made all Samsung chargers on S4’s over a year old “slow chargers” as well.”

I noticed they just sent a push asking to upgrade to Lollipop and that it would take up an extra 950 MB.

950 megabytes!!??

No thanks.

It will be interesting to see other manufacturers jump on this and start producing Fi-capable phones to keep up with the growing market.

Last year’s Nexus 6 was the first phone released with FI capability. I have heard of some people getting it to work with the Note 5, but I don’t think it is on the “officially recognized” list.

My mother got a Galaxy Note 3, and was contemplating moving to the 5 — then I mentioned that I’d been waiting on upgrading from my S3 and was going to take a good, close look at the new Nexus phones when they were announced (which was end of Sept). I have a friend with a Nexus 5, and he likes it.

Well, glad I waited — I found out about Google Fi at the same time, and I was smack in the middle of the target market for their (still in beta) service. Timing was as perfect as their concept & execution.

In fact, having told her all about it, and then signing up, she concluded that was good enough for her, so my mother signed up, too. She actually got her 5X before I got my 6P. Now there are three of us. She was previously on a one-phone T-Mo contract that had expired. Still owes money on the Note 3, but she’ll have no trouble Ebaying it away.

Huawei did nail the 6P. It would do fine in the market without Google Fi, but I really look at the phones as being the necessary vehicle for those who want Google Fi — their 3 phones are the only ones that will work with the service, so I think only those who want the service should be buying them. (But that’s just me…)

But good luck to Huawei with their next phone. It will be interesting to see if it’s also Fi-capable. It will be interesting to see other manufacturers jump on this and start producing Fi-capable phones to keep up with the growing market.

We were already T-Mo with decent coverage, so when not on wifi, I figure Sprint will do nicely to fill in the few cracks in coverage here & there. You can surf in to the Project Fi website and inquire; they’ll check your current number against their database and tell you if you have decent enough coverage to qualify. And it’s constantly changing, of course.

I, too, find the fact that this stuff works so well simply amazing, and that’s from observations of companies that know how and don’t know how to design & execute good products. Google not only hires good engineering talent, but also good management and marketing talent. Their departments apparently know how to communicate well (unlike, say Microsoft), so they turn out a very consistent set of products.

Knowing and understanding theory is very different from having the ability to produce a technology, which is very different from being able to turn a technology into a working consumer product, which is very different from being able to fund it — and market it effectively. This company has got all the angles well-covered with motivated, clever, inventive talent.

I’m glad they’re a corporation that’s found that excellence pays better than finding more and better ways to rob & steal under the cloak of cleverly relabeling such efforts.

I’ve got a Note 4 now, and love the big screen. Samsung takes a lot of crap, deservedly, but I get a lot done with it. The big Nexus sounds appealing. I’ve heard good things about the cameras on the two new Nexus phones as well.
I’m not surprised Huawei seems to have nailed the 6P. They have a great reputation for making phones with very nice hardware features, but it’s been the “skin” they’ve put on Android that has earned the most complaints. They are trying to make a name here in the States, and this Nexus was their big chance. The rumor is they will introduce a company-branded phone sometime in the first half of next year, sort of a “you’ve seen what we did with the Nexus, now look at this” phone. If that pans out it will be interesting.

Hope you continue to be happy with the phones. I’m not sure how strong, and wide, T-Mobile and Sprint coverage is here, but if it’s reasonable this is something to consider.

In the end, I find the fact that this stuff works so well simply amazing. My father was born in 1908, and I remember him telling stories of living in rural Kansas, on a farm in the middle of nowhere, when one of the neighbors got a radio and they heard that for the first time. Things have certainly changed.