Advice please- Galaxy S6 Active, Nexus 6P, Moto G3/X, Sony Xperia, HTC desire eye, other?

A

AC Question

Currently still using Samsung Transform Ultra (that slideout keyboard!) and living in midwestern US, I'm with Boost mobile and paying $40/month. My phone's become a bit sluggish, is always near full (even with microSD card), and there are some things it simply can't run or do well. So I am considering options, as there may be some good ones and some promising holiday offers/sales.

What I am hoping for in a new phone:

* ease of transferability from my current phone (prefer to keep number and apps and media and contacts etc.)

* waterproof and shatterproof (generally resistant to damage without needing to be encased in a box too big for pockets or bags)

* great camera, with native options not needing apps (panorama, focus&image stabilization, modes for different lighting, etc.)

* decent US coverage (similar to or better than Boost which I currently have) but also able to work in Europe, South America, and Asia (either natively or through swapping SIM)

* expandable memory or high enough base amount to last years

* removable battery and good battery life when using navigation and taking pictures or video

* ability to multitask enough to get directions to a place while reading about the place at the same time on the same screen, maybe even while being on the phone

* monthly cost for talk/text/data should be less than or equal to $40/month; I am willing to pay up front for phone cost and would prefer to own it outright rather than leasing/financing it

Primarily I use my phone to call into work conference lines, for directions in the car or local info when travelling, to take nature pictures, to text my family (who live all over, with a variety of carriers/devices), to look up real estate, to watch/listen to Netflix and digital music, and to surf/read (forums, wikis, searches, occasionally documents/books). Some gaming but do much more of that on my laptops and PC than my phone. I work from home and am usually near a computer, but it'd be nice to have a little less freezing/stalling/crashing and a bit more capabilities when I am out and about around the neighborhood or around the world. I want my things to last for years and do not want them to be too fragile to risk using!

Given all that, what would you recommend... Galaxy S6 Active, Nexus 6P, Moto G3/X, Sony Xperia, HTC desire eye, or something else? Please say what and why. Thank you!
 

B. Diddy

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Welcome to Android Central! Since you list durability (waterproof and shatterproof) and camer near the top, I'd suggest the S6 Active. Remember that no phone is 100% waterproof nor shatterproof--but the S6 Active is probably one of the more durable phones out there. The Xperia line is also relatively water resistant, but I'm not sure how durable they are when it comes to drops and scuffs, and Sony's future support for their phones is always a bit suspect.

Porting your number to a new phone is easy regardless of the phone. If you use the same carrier, you can swap the current SIM card into the new phone. The only caveat here is that the Transform Ultra uses a miniSIM size, while the S6 Active uses a nanoSIM size. There are SIM card cutters you can get for cheap that can cut the card down to the correct size, or you can just request a new nanoSIM card from your carrier with the same number. If you want to change carriers, the new carrier can handle porting your old number to the new phone.

Apps can be easily installed on a new phone from Google Play or Amazon Appstore as long as you log in with the same account as on the old phone. Media can be copied from the old phone to your computer via USB connection, then copied from the computer to the new phone. Contacts should ideally be associated with your Google account on your old phone, so that they're synced automatically with your Google Contacts in the cloud. When you log into the same Google account on the new phone, the contacts automatically sync there.

The monthly plan cost has to do with your carrier, not the phone.

Good luck, and have fun with your new phone!