[heatofamatch]

I kinda distrust, dislike Google, so I personally would not buy a Nexus device. (the first thing I do on every android device is to root, and disable google search/google now)
 
However I've got great synergy with Korean smartphones, meaning Samsung and LG's design choices and direction tend to serve my needs & the kind of person I am very well... oh wait, nobody's gonna make an LG rom for a Nexus device right? okay then don't mind me...I'm just the old fart with a tin foil hat in all of this.
 
The flipside of this is Sony, who I give a lot of money to every year, and they tend to be the first brand I shop, but I've had 2 expensive Sony phones in a row that were both lemons with undetectable/unfixable hardware issues. I know it doesn't mean Sony is necessarily worse than anyone else, but I haven't got the heart to go back for a 3rd try. Sony is clearly a black hole for me and now I only buy their products if it's not running an open OS.
 
So my view on devices is, don't just use objective things like specs to gauge a device, but also try to figure out what tends to work out for you.

 

[insertwordshere]

I kinda distrust, dislike Google, so I personally would not buy a Nexus device. (the first thing I do on every android device is to root, and disable google search/google now)

However I've got great synergy with Korean smartphones, meaning Samsung and LG's design choices and direction tend to serve my needs & the kind of person I am very well... oh wait, nobody's gonna make an LG rom for a Nexus device right? okay then don't mind me...I'm just the old fart with a tin foil hat in all of this.

The flipside of this is Sony, who I give a lot of money to every year, and they tend to be the first brand I shop, but I've had 2 expensive Sony phones in a row that were both lemons with undetectable/unfixable hardware issues. I know it doesn't mean Sony is necessarily worse than anyone else, but I haven't got the heart to go back for a 3rd try. Sony is clearly a black hole for me and now I only buy their products if it's not running an open OS.

So my view on devices is, don't just use objective things like specs to gauge a device, but also try to figure out what tends to work out for you.

I think what works best for me are sony phones. their interface is beautiful to me and easy to use. compared to samsung, sony got the best widgets(not really the best compared to motorola)
but for now? I love my blackberry passport.

 

[SS-Audio]

Thanks for the info friend, 
 
I currently own a LG G3, but also considering the Nexus line for a future upgrade. If you are bored with the traditional LG interface there is always CyanogenMod

 

[heatofamatch]

I used to mod and flash roms and all that, but I currently have a strict policy of not only 
NOT flashing roms, but also
NOT updating beyond the version my device shipped with.
 
The reason being, some feature I want, need or enjoy is invariably defeated or removed in that process.
 
Case in point: My second lemon Sony phone shipped with a very elegant version of Walkman player that's got a fantastic tag lookup feature, the first time I've seen that work flawlessly anywhere.
I went 4.0->4.1 and it was gone.
4.1->4.2 and 4.3 removed even more things I needed, e.g. volume button used to not wake up screen when you disable lock screen. Now they do and there's nothing you can do about it unless you mod.
So I had to go to all the trouble and take the phone back down to 4.0.
 
Or, I may not want to update an old device to a version that features google now, because I then lose the use of several remote button combinations, because Google effin remapped them for their selfish use.
 
I may not want to update a phone to kitkat and beyond because my 3rd party music player then loses the ability to delete any file in any directory on the fly.
 
Is newer always better? OH HELL ****** NO, it depends on what you want, and I want a good experience! 

 
This "update is always better" mentality, mainly from the consumers who are fearful of money losing value (the more you fear the more it happens), and not so much from the manufacturers, is just...a bumbling hamster wheel. Most devices of any OS are not perceivably better as a result unless there's a singular feature you can't do without.
 
So what I do is, let's say I want to sample a new version of android, I buy a new phone that ships natively with that. I've got the money. It's the best experience of that software on that device. The roms that people hack together that invariably has bugs -- and then you can't tell them because that'd be rude -- are not.

 

[Cathcart]

I've got a Note 4. At first I thought the S-Pen was just a gimmick but I actually have been using it quite a lot, not just for the drawing g features but as a sort of mortal mouse for my phone.

 

[insertwordshere]

I've got a Note 4. At first I thought the S-Pen was just a gimmick but I actually have been using it quite a lot, not just for the drawing g features but as a sort of mortal mouse for my phone.

i was using the note and note 3, and the s pen... well? i never used it.

 

[TDNOUEoAT]

I have the iPhone 5C. I do some web browsing and YouTube watching with it in bed, but not much else, since I use my PC so much. Was thinking about getting a Windows Phone.

 

[Fox2twenty]

I've got a Note 4. At first I thought the S-Pen was just a gimmick but I actually have been using it quite a lot, not just for the drawing g features but as a sort of mortal mouse for my phone.

I have a note 4, loved the s pen until I lost it

 

[insertwordshere]

I have the iPhone 5C. I do some web browsing and YouTube watching with it in bed, but not much else, since I use my PC so much. Was thinking about getting a Windows Phone.

DUDE! DON'T! I have friends that have it, and they said it sucked ass. The app economy is like a blackberry and it isn't user friendly.