Android phones, apps and tablets

Google Maps downloads a LOT of data while you are on the route !?

I've used Waze, which is free and requires no data down after instal !!!!
I won't say it's perfect, but it works well enough.

You probably know Waze is owned by Google and that they now share the same routing engine.

There is little to no difference in data usage, I used both in the US and measured using them as I was trying to determine which would be better in areas where there is little signal. Waze uses more than you expect, so does Maps... but at least with Maps I could download whole areas over WiFi from a hotel and it would be used when the signal disappeared.

The big advantage of Waze is speed camera notifications.

Will android/google sneak up and become the ubiquitous OS for the future?
Android and products like google maps navigation have seamlessly integrated into my life - to an almost scary degree. But I don't remember consciously thinking about it, apart from "I'm not buying an iPhone".

Doesn't it already have 80% of the mobile market or so? It's nicely slipped in for people upgrading from feature phones in less affluent countries.

I am surprised that they haven't tried to sell Chromecast to tv manufacturers as something they could build in though. Most smart tv interfaces are crap and a built-in chromecast would be a much better UI.

If the cars take off as well then that will be a big step. Significant competition there though.

OSMAND will follow a pre loaded gpx with voice guidance.
http://osmand.net/

Dropped the Cyanogen 13 nightly (Marshmallow) onto the S3 and it's holding up OK apart from the camera not working.

Not bad for an old handset.

Google Maps navigation is scarily good.

Mostly decent I agree, however I have two words which it seems unable to handle: Milton Keynes

Not sure if the GPS was playing up but it consistently sent me off roundabouts at the wrong exit or put me into a lane which led me astray.

Maybe it knew Ikea was going to be hell?

That's the only way anyone ever navigates Milton Keynes tbf

I've been using the wife's iPhone for the last month or two, for no particular reason. Apple maps are so infuriatingly bad. Navigation is ok, certainly not up to google's standard, but it's on search where it really falls apart. Spelled the name of that bakery down the road slightly wrong? Oh, you must have meant the one in Pennsylvania then. Can't remember the exact name of that medical centre? 0 results; go fuck yourself.

Mostly decent I agree, however I have two words which it seems unable to handle: Milton Keynes

Meh. The only navigable thing in MK are the concrete cows. IKEA is just a guessing game on the myriad of roundabouts.

The camera, the camera is unbelievable. Low-light indoor photos are accurately coming out sharp and clear, just as they appeared at the time. This is the first Android phone that has actually encouraged me to use the camera, I no longer even reach for my Lumix camera, that has gathered dust since I acquired the Nexus 6p.

I've been reading up on the Nexus 6p and already impressed by the fact they used a larger sensor (bigger sensor = more light), at the moment the iPhone for me shine because of the software, which tend to deliver great colours.

Nexus 6P however look much better in handling low light than the iPhone, seriously tempted by it now;

5x has exactly the same camera too if you don't want something as big/expensive as the 6p.

I did notice that, my main concern is the performance difference between those two, which can make it slower to take photos on the 5x in theory.

Milton Keynes is a piece of piss to navigate, if you don't know where you're going, just keep doing a right at the roundabouts. If that don't work, try a left....

You mean the lag? If so, yes, that's what putting me off too. Well, that and not having the cash. Hoping software updates will fix it as a 5X would be perfect for me. Not keen on rooting a brand new Nexus.

The Reddit 5x forum is worth a look if you've not already.

The lag and the battery life both, coming from an iPhone 6P, it might feel a bit of a downgrade.

Doze should mean the battery life is OK, quite a lot of people seem to reckon it's alright.

The lag thing seems to develop after a few days use, the phone then needs restarting to get rid of it. The consensus is it's a software issue which Google can fix, but there is apparently a consistent camera lag if you take multiple HDR shots in a row. That wouldn't bother me personally, but YMMV. I don't know if the 6P also has that issue.

I had a good play with one today and couldn't get any lag at all, although I didn't do multiple pictures.

There's some good info here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nexus5x/comments/3zgfd1/are_there_actual_5x_users_with_no_problems_with/

Battery life on the Nexus 6P is supurb and I'm a heavy user as I play Ingress with it.

If photography is a deciding factor the f1.8 lens on the LG G4 may be of interest,
especially if you can find one at Vodafone for £235.
(Also has user replaceable battery and micro sd card slot).

Bought a LG G3 on the strength of their Nexus 4 offering. Turned out to be a terrible phone.

Battery life was shockingly bad and GPS was terrible. Considering the two big things I use my phone for is Ingress and Viewranger (both big battery and GPS using apps) there was no way I was going for a G4.

6P has a bigger battery. Cos it is ginormous!

Nexus = Google designed hardware = excellent stuff.

I only want Google hardware now after my Nexus 4 and my Chromebook Pixel 2.

Reading up about this, pixel sizes is smaller but sensor is slightly bigger (compare to iPhone), but return a much better result in general.

That's one impressive camera on the LG, especially with RAW.

The camera on my nexus 6p is absolutely insane, unbelievably sharp.

Can anyone give any advice on using an external microphone with a nexus 6p? I play in a few bands and it'd be nice to make dodgy practice demos a bit less dodgy. If there's some way of using an external mic I think it'd probably be a huge improvement on wrapping a phone in a jumper.