LG G5 cell phone. Who has one?

[forumname]

Oops, didn't realize this thread was so old lol. If you're like most people it's probably time for a new one by now anyway! (yuck).


I see now that Call of Doughty resurrected the thread with a new question, to which I would say:

Go with a "budget" phone like the one I mentioned (Moto G5+ - read the WireCutter article), and buy it outright. It should be around $200 if you're in the US (I got mine earlier this year for $180 (usd)) or $250 (cad) if you're in Canada. I promise it will be more than you need for the usage you describe, so don't even waste your time looking at the $600+ "flagship" phones. Most of that money just goes towards paying for the advertising that convinces people they need them.

Dodging the bullshit contract/"plan"/etc nonsense gives you some leverage and will let you shop around with some of the cheaper providers. It's insane to me that people finance things like phones and mattresses. You end up paying more in the long run, so just buy the damn thing up front.

If you use it mostly for texting and using wifi at home, you should be able to find something for much less than $60/month. In Canada you should be able to find something for around $35/month, and much less if you're in the states.

[Mr. Guru]

I ended up going with the G5 and it's been a great phone for the past 11 months. Not sure if the G6 is as good or not but I enjoy my phone.

Glad to hear. I'll be going back to LG whenever I need a new phone.

[lektrix]

LG G5 is only $230 CAD with no contract, I picked one up in May 2017 thru Koodo...... Best phone for sub $250!!!

[chuckcouples]

I can't speak for any one outside of Canada but in Canada, you are more often than not getting the phone from your provider as part of a 2 year contract. The deals and prices they offer on the phones with a new 2 year contract are typically a bigger savings then buying the phone outright. I have had an LG G3 phone since August 2014 and I still use it to this day. My contract with my phone provider ran out over a year ago. Once that contract ran out, they reduced my monthly bill because I was "no longer paying for the phone". The monthly savings was $5.

I am in the market to replace my phone so I have been looking at the Pixel 2 XL. To buy one, it would cost me around $1160 Canadian. Bell is currently offering the phone for $450 with my current plan. I would need to be saving $30 per month in order for it to make sense for me to buy it outright. Same applies for:

LG6 ($0 with 2 year term, $999 with no term)
LG V30 ($300 with 2 year, $1100 with no term)
iPhone 8 ($230 with 2 year term, $950 with no term)
iPhone X ($600 with 2 year term, $1350 with no term)
Samsung Galaxy S8 ($289 with 2 year term, $1035 with no term)

With the $5 per month saving you get for having your own phone, it would take more than 10 years to make it a better deal for any of these phones. No one is going to be keeping a phone for 10 years.

These numbers are all based on what my phone provider (including the retention department) has offered me. The same principles were true when I bought my LG G3 in 2014 and nothing has changed except prices are much higher now.

My LG G3 has been ok. It had to be sent away once to get repaired as it was the original model in Canada and there was a hardware defect. This was noticed about 2 years after I bought the phone. The replacement works fairly well although it has always had a tendency to reset itself if it had to work too hard (multiple apps open/graphic "intense" gaming/etc).

[forumname]

I can't speak for any one outside of Canada but in Canada, you are more often than not getting the phone from your provider as part of a 2 year contract. The deals and prices they offer on the phones with a new 2 year contract are typically a bigger savings then buying the phone outright. I have had an LG G3 phone since August 2014 and I still use it to this day. My contract with my phone provider ran out over a year ago. Once that contract ran out, they reduced my monthly bill because I was "no longer paying for the phone". The monthly savings was $5.

I am in the market to replace my phone so I have been looking at the Pixel 2 XL. To buy one, it would cost me around $1160 Canadian. Bell is currently offering the phone for $450 with my current plan. I would need to be saving $30 per month in order for it to make sense for me to buy it outright. Same applies for:

LG6 ($0 with 2 year term, $999 with no term)
LG V30 ($300 with 2 year, $1100 with no term)
iPhone 8 ($230 with 2 year term, $950 with no term)
iPhone X ($600 with 2 year term, $1350 with no term)
Samsung Galaxy S8 ($289 with 2 year term, $1035 with no term)

With the $5 per month saving you get for having your own phone, it would take more than 10 years to make it a better deal for any of these phones. No one is going to be keeping a phone for 10 years.

These numbers are all based on what my phone provider (including the retention department) has offered me. The same principles were true when I bought my LG G3 in 2014 and nothing has changed except prices are much higher now.

My LG G3 has been ok. It had to be sent away once to get repaired as it was the original model in Canada and there was a hardware defect. This was noticed about 2 years after I bought the phone. The replacement works fairly well although it has always had a tendency to reset itself if it had to work too hard (multiple apps open/graphic "intense" gaming/etc).

I've ran the numbers on this in the past (in Canada), and it always made more sense to buy the phone (in the examples I ran). If you don't, you're essentially taking out a loan and they aren't doing that for free.

[Call of Doughty]

Thank you all for the advice. Looking at that Moto G5. Intriguing for sure.

Yeah that 'buy it outright' vs 'we'll loan you a phone' has me wondering what's best. My Nexis was under a 2 year plan then my bill dropped as it was payed off.

[Mr. Guru]

What phone plans do you guys have right now?

[lektrix]

I can't speak for any one outside of Canada but in Canada, you are more often than not getting the phone from your provider as part of a 2 year contract. The deals and prices they offer on the phones with a new 2 year contract are typically a bigger savings then buying the phone outright. I have had an LG G3 phone since August 2014 and I still use it to this day. My contract with my phone provider ran out over a year ago. Once that contract ran out, they reduced my monthly bill because I was "no longer paying for the phone". The monthly savings was $5.

I am in the market to replace my phone so I have been looking at the Pixel 2 XL. To buy one, it would cost me around $1160 Canadian. Bell is currently offering the phone for $450 with my current plan. I would need to be saving $30 per month in order for it to make sense for me to buy it outright. Same applies for:

LG6 ($0 with 2 year term, $999 with no term)
LG V30 ($300 with 2 year, $1100 with no term)
iPhone 8 ($230 with 2 year term, $950 with no term)
iPhone X ($600 with 2 year term, $1350 with no term)
Samsung Galaxy S8 ($289 with 2 year term, $1035 with no term)

With the $5 per month saving you get for having your own phone, it would take more than 10 years to make it a better deal for any of these phones. No one is going to be keeping a phone for 10 years.

These numbers are all based on what my phone provider (including the retention department) has offered me. The same principles were true when I bought my LG G3 in 2014 and nothing has changed except prices are much higher now.

My LG G3 has been ok. It had to be sent away once to get repaired as it was the original model in Canada and there was a hardware defect. This was noticed about 2 years after I bought the phone. The replacement works fairly well although it has always had a tendency to reset itself if it had to work too hard (multiple apps open/graphic "intense" gaming/etc).

If I were you, I would just be happy with a 1-2 year old $200-$300 phone like the LG G5 or anything similar. Save the ~$800 for a flight and go on vacation lol. There's no app you can't run and no game you can't play on a 1-2 year old phone, unless you think a "3D screen", or glitchy, wonky face recognition software is worth $1K+ lol. If you're in Canada, it's easy to find something like the G5 or iPhone SE for under $250 on a 3-month plan. Essentially you sign up for a new number, get the brand new phone at a highly discounted price, stay with the provider on the cheapest rate for 3 months minimum, unlock the phone for $1-$10, then sign up with any provider you want. Yes, I got the LG G5 for $225 in March 2017. It's an old phone (released in 2016) but I couldn't be happier with spending only $225 for a decent phone capable of running 99% apps in 2017/2018.

[Call of Doughty]

Bought the MotoG5 today via Bell. Sounds and looks like a solid phone for my needed. Thanks Forum for the advice and everyone else. 2 year contract w/very little data will run me $25 month + one time activation fee of $25. Easy to buy online and get to keep old number of course. So I should save $25 month which i'm happy with. Hope it works well.
COD

[lektrix]

Bought the MotoG5 today via Bell. Sounds and looks like a solid phone for my needed. Thanks Forum for the advice and everyone else. 2 year contract w/very little data will run me $25 month + one time activation fee of $25. Easy to buy online and get to keep old number of course. So I should save $25 month which i'm happy with. Hope it works well.
COD

Not the worst option but I would have gone with the older G5, specs are better even though the phone came out in Feb 2016:

https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php...&idPhone2=8453

https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product.../10573087.aspx

[forumname]

Not the worst option but I would have gone with the older G5, specs are better even though the phone came out in Feb 2016:

https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php...&idPhone2=8453

https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product.../10573087.aspx

Lots of people with disagree with you on that.

[lektrix]

Lots of people with disagree with you on that.

I don't claim to be 100% right (there are pros and cons with every phone) and I'll admit I don't know much about the new Moto phone, but I know a good deal when I see one and I absolutely hate tying myself down to any long term contract.

I'm currently paying $25 for unlimited data (3G), talk, and text with Rogers CHATR on my $225 Unlocked LG G5 w/ no contract. I'm happy to have one of the highest quality cameras for this price point, 1440P screen, expandable memory (up to 256GB) and a removable battery so that I can take as many photos and videos as I want while I'm on vacation. That's all I care about....an affordable, simple, reasonably new phone (2016) that can do almost anything in this day and age. It works well for me but may not work for everybody else

Cheers and hope you're happy with your decision!!!!!!

[2014olympicgold]

Pretty funny Samsung Commercial bashing Apple