Mint Mobile

[kevm14]

I prefer using my 3+ year old Lumia 1520 to my work iPhone.

Lumia 1520 came out in late 2013. This is a 5 year old phone design. My work iPhone 6S, which is an "old phone" by most standards, is 2 years newer. Up until iOS 11, the keyboard was noticeably inferior to my old 1520. So yeah, that's one reason I am not impressed. And I found all iPhones prior to the 6 to have laughably small screens. Just not a fan. And the later stuff is just so goddamn expensive.

I mean, a 6S will probably serve Jamie's needs just fine. Kind of no nonsense.

I really wish Windows Phone made it. For me it was the perfect blend of iOS and Android. It had enough customization and a range of hardware options (good screens, good cameras, etc.), but with all of the basic stability and fluidity (plus OS design cohesion, and security) of iOS. I mean, on paper, that still sounds ideal to me. But people like apps...

[kevm14]

Narrowed in on an excellent condition 32GB 6S for Jamie. $209 is the bogie there. Will dink around and see if I can get that down while maintaining this condition. I got bad vibes from the 7 and it is too expensive for a good condition one anyway.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-iPhone-6 ... 0&LH_BIN=1

[kevm14]

I can get an LG V30 for $210.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/T-Mobile-LG-V3 ... 0&LH_BIN=1

6" OLED. For the price of an iPhone 6S. Yeah.

[kevm14]

The V30 supports up to 1 Gbps download speed on 4G. The H932 model of the V30, for T-Mobile, is the first smartphone to support 4G's LTE Band 71, with a frequency of 600 MHz

Well that is why no older iPhone supports the band. It's new. So any issues with the V30?

Seems durable:
https://www.androidpolice.com/2017/10/1 ... unscathed/

Some things:
- It is IP68 water proof.
- Hence, no removable back
- 6" OLED, 1440 x 2880 (damn)
- wireless charging
- dual-camera system. 16MP main camera w/ OIS, 10-bit ADC and f/1.6 aperture (wow) and claims both Laser and Phase detection autofocus (double wow), 13MP wide angle camera. And it has the obligatory front camera at 5MP which seems to be where the industry has settled. No point in anything higher and 2MP would also be fine...
- 64GB, and takes up to 512GB cards (damn!)
- 4GB ram
- Snapdragon 835
- HEADPHONE JACK
- Best DAC in the business??

The Verge:

The cherry atop the LG V30 spec cake is undeniably the phone’s Hi-Fi Quad-DAC audio system. It is insanely good. I’m talking “angels descended from heaven and plucked harps inside my ears” kind of good. It’s the sort of sound that makes me extend my walks and wish for my train to be delayed, just so I could listen for a little while longer. Listening with the 1More Quad Driver earphones, I find the V30’s bass so tight and pure that I just gorge on it. Everything sounds phenomenal coming out of this phone, whether it’s classical orchestra music, Ramin Djawadi movie soundtracks, 2Pac’s pathos-laden lyrics, or the latest electronic productions from the likes of Nightmares on Wax.

Damn, I like the sound of that!! Ha, punny.

This is annoying but resolvable:

LG seriously weighs its phones down with carrier bloatware. The Korean version of the V30 that I tested came with no fewer than 54 preloaded carrier apps, and the US alternatives are no better. $800 and a ton of crap I have to disable and remove? What is this, a Windows laptop from 2007?

Exactly.

Oh no.

The OLED screen of the V30 is just bad. There’s no dodging this issue, and there’s no making excuses for it. This isn’t a good display, and if your phone doesn’t have a good display it might as well be a Nokia 5110

Every time I switched between the V30 and HTC’s U11 in my testing, the U11’s screen felt like a luxurious escape. It’s painfully apparent that LG’s so-called plastic OLED screens are multiple generations behind Samsung’s alternative — which graces the Galaxy S8, Galaxy Note 8, and the upcoming iPhone X — as well as significantly behind the best LCDs, as exhibited by the U11.

That might actually annoy me. I could go look at one in a store I guess. I would have been fine with LCD...

Reading comments indicate the issue is fixed or was fixed or something...

[kevm14]

- 6" or thereabouts, and looking for a decent quality, though I don't need OLED or anything excessive like that. Honestly looking to match or exceed my 1520 which was pretty high end at the time. Looking for decent contrast, color gamut, outdoor visibility, something that is NOT a blue white point (no 7000K whites please). I would HOPE that most 6" class phones are this good but I think I'd be wrong to assume that. Needless to say, the screen matters to me.

Ugh.

Guess what the color temp is.

7834K. Goddamn that is blue.

[kevm14]

A review of the phone from last August from the perspective of whether it is still recommended and a good value (particularly, used), so this seems relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kizJnKRH2BE

[kevm14]

I see the deal. LG is kind of an underdog for phones. Perfect.

1.5m water proofing. That is sweet. Also, MIL-STD-810G.

[kevm14]

Well overall I think this is the best I am going to get for the money, for sure.

I may actually pull the trigger on 2 used phones (after picking my final sources, probably eBay) and two Mint sims.

Word is T-Mobile locked works fine on Mint though they still say you need an unlocked phone (probably just CYA). Many people report no issues with T-Mobile locked phones on Mint. And that makes sense. I believe it works that way in AT&T world also (AT&T locked phones with on AT&T MVNOs).

[kevm14]

It sounds like quite a good multimedia phone, in terms of some specifics:
- I like the dual camera w/ wide angle
- Great DAC for headphones
- Apparently it has great audio quality in videos. It has a log mode for color grading in post production. Many audio adjustments. 120+ dB recording (like my 1520)
- HDR video recording??
- With 512GB of storage, you could probably do Youtube videos for days on this.
- With IP68 and MIL-STD-810G, take it anywhere. I'm sure I will continue my tradition of NO screen protector and NO case.

So yeah, I am liking what I am seeing, especially for the price. You aren't going to touch this for $210. Not even close.

[kevm14]

Of course.

Any LG V30/V30+/V30S on the planet can be bootloader unlocked and rooted, except for the T-mobile H932. But some V30/V30+ sold in other parts of the world do not have the bands you need. So, for North America carriers with bootloader unlock and root, you want any North America variant (EXCEPT the T-mobile H932).

Well if that doesn't change, then that will be a problem down the road...Adam?

Maybe $10 more for unlocked would fix that?

The more I read and think about it, the more I think an un-carrier-locked phone has nothing to do with anything else. I will still be a T-Mobile phone and have all the H932 stuff. So my option is to risk that, OR get another variant, and have less full band compatibility.

Well the other thing is, an unlocked one will allow me to switch back to AT&T if something weird happens with T-Mobile. That would match Jamie's unlocked 6S so we'd be free to move around on GSM carriers. Probably a good idea, even if it doesn't buy me any bootloader stuff.