new phone advice

[graham.hobart (Graham stevens)]

I have a older iphone 5 s I think.
I am looking into a new phone shortly and would like to hear anyone's recommendations.
The phone I have is very slow even on wireless, has limited memory but on the plus side has some good astro apps from iTunes.
I would like a bigger screen, more memory and a fster more pleasurable experience that a phone that keeps freezing up.

I have seen a lot of samsungs around- any good?
Cheers
Graham.

[JimsShed (Jim)]

I got a Samsung Galaxy S7 last week. Moved over from a Nokia Windows phone. Have had an iPhone before.
The android platform is definitely a lot more techy to live with than IOS or Windows Phone. I've spent a number of days taming down the plethora of notifications that pop up by default. Almost there. Windows Phone platform is easy to live with, but of course limited in choice of apps, especially AU banking apps.
I went with an android over IOS this time as my personal protest against Apple and their AU overpricing and questionable corporate deeds of late, not to mention my 5yo 27" iMac that shat it's video card and you can't buy a new one.

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Originally Posted by graham.hobart

The phone I have is very slow even on wireless, has limited memory but on the plus side has some good astro apps from iTunes.

Graham, I suggest you backup your phone in iTunes and do a factory reset as a 5s should not be performing more slowly than the day you bought it.

If you use SkySafari, bear in mind that the release schedule for iOS leads Android by about 6 months...

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

I just up-dated to Microsoft's new W10 phone the 950XL , awsome 5.7 inch AMOLED 518ppi resolution screen is a beauty ,
Dont let the nay-sayers say otherwise this is a very , very top shelf phone .

Over the years I have had Galaxies ( as Jim said , you get swamped by all the BS thats in these PIC'p ) , iPhones , HTC 1's , Xperia's and having just finished a 24 month contract with Telstra using the Lumina 1020 that did not miss a beat in all that time ( I am a Boilermaker and my phones get a very hard time ) have signed up with this new 950XL , its a beautiful phone and Contana works a treat . Fun to use .

I have just downloaded Stellarium and it looks very good on this screen , nice and it has all the features that my laptop has .

Do your self a favor and give these a try at a local phone shop , , these are head and shoulders above W8 plus and any Android/Apple system .

Brian.

[csb (Craig)]

I've had my Sony Xperia Z1 for nearly 2 years. Physically tough! Reliable, fast, powerful!

I wasn't happy with it at first but then I installed the Lollipop version and it is fantastic. Nil issues and reliable. Xperia is up to Z5 now.

I actually prefer a smaller phone but my telco doesn't offer the compact version. My brother has the compact which he liked - has now got a newer version.

[graham.hobart (Graham stevens)]

thanks everyone
will do a back up and reset as suggested before I spend extra-see if that quickens it

[kittenshark (Cheryl-Ann Tan)]

I just got myself a iphone 5S; and I got a pretty good Apple ecosystem at home.

I got 64GB on the phone to use but for some reason it's always running out. I fill it with lots of audio including audiobooks, but at one point I could only keep one audiobook...

Then I came across this trick http://www.cnet.com/how-to/out-of-sp...-free-up-more/

It worked. So I suppose it is a design flaw in the software. I could see it clearing out memory that other apps like Facebook is using.

Maybe freeing up some memory will speed things up.

[issdaol (Phil)]

I still have my iPhone 5S.....since it was first release so a few years now and it is still going as fast and reliable as when I purchased it.

Apple just released the 5SE which is essentially (but very slightly different ) iPhone 6s internals in the old iPhone 5S case.....

A lot of colleagues that I know that switched to Samsung or Nokia switched back due to one problem or another that they had so I don't see a change to a non iPhone model in the future for me.

Im going to wait until the iPhone 7 is released later this year before considering an update.

[inertia8 (Australia)]

Just got an lg g4 from kogan's ebay sale for $370 delivered and I am very pleased with it so far. I use a telstra byo plan that costs $40 per month and gives 8gb (promo they were running last December)

[BeanerSA (Paul)]

Originally Posted by inertia8

Just got an lg g4 from kogan's ebay sale for $370 delivered and I am very pleased with it so far. I use a telstra byo plan that costs $40 per month and gives 8gb (promo they were running last December)

The LG G4 is a very capable phone for some quick and dirty astrophotography. Get onto it.

[OffGrid (Steve)]

G'day Graham,

A couple of tips for iPhones if you don't already do so.

Daily:- Doubly click the home button at bottom of the screen and clear ALL apps by swiping them vertically up the screen.
As a rule, don't go to bed without doing thus.

Weekly or as required:- reboot the phone by first holding down the on/off button and whilst still holding it down, click and hold the Home button.
Continue holding both down until the screen goes blank.
Wait for 5-10 seconds then press and hold the on/off button again until phone fires back up.

I have been doing this for years and rarely have issues.

Memory
A bit tough if you only have 8 of 16 gig.
But, as I keep reminding my better half, get mean and cull content such as photo's and particularly video. Of course synch to your poota first if you need to keep content.

Hope this helps

Steve

[graham.hobart (Graham stevens)]

Cheers all and Steve re last comment - thanks for that
will be more pro active--!!

[inertia8 (Australia)]

Originally Posted by BeanerSA

The LG G4 is a very capable phone for some quick and dirty astrophotography. Get onto it.

Interesting,

One of the draw cards for me was the camera and ability to take an sd card.

Any recommendations as to a mount for using this for AP?

I've got an Orion xt10g goto dob and a sky watcher sw130p that I can put on an eq5 with dual axis drives.

Sorry for the mini hijack Graham!

[xelasnave]

A little off topic but I saw a standard phone in the super market for nine dollars. Not a smart phone but that is cheap.
Alex

[BeanerSA (Paul)]

Originally Posted by inertia8

Any recommendations as to a mount for using this for AP?

I've either rested it in a padded box, pointing roughly in the right direction, and used the delay timer to start it going, or my son has been pretty lucky with some hand held action at the eyepiece.

The Joby mounts look quite good. They are available online everywhere, or via HN for a bricks and mortar store.

http://joby.com/mobile?mode=grid

[Rogering (Stuart)]

Another vote for LG G4, great fast phone and excellent camera for quick astro pics.

[Regulus (Trevor)]

Originally Posted by brian nordstrom

I just up-dated to Microsoft's new W10 phone the 950XL , awsome 5.7 inch AMOLED 518ppi resolution screen is a beauty ,
Dont let the nay-sayers say otherwise this is a very , very top shelf phone....
Do your self a favor and give these a try at a local phone shop , , these are head and shoulders above W8 plus and any Android/Apple system .

Brian.

Yup. have been thinking about getting a Windows phone for the Desktop connectivity. Would be really handy sometimes.

Keep the Galaxy Note for Skyeye and a few useful Android apps.

Trev

[Wavytone]

Well.. If cost is not an issue ... I'll suggest an iPhone 6 Plus.

In the year I've had mine I haven't been tempted to pick up an iPad - it really is just that much bigger you don't need one.

As for the rest it's no slouch, and being a Mac household everything integrates without an issue.

Plenty of apps to choose from for astronomy too.