Upgrade Dilemma. Opinions, please?

[LilSweetLin]

Hi everyone,

So as the title says, I have a bit of a dilemma. Up until three days ago, I had been using the Nexus 6P as my daily for almost two years. Last Sunday, however, I bought an unlocked, mint condition LG V30 off of Swappa, that I received on Friday. Battery life and standby time on the phone has honestly been unreal. I've reached as high as 8:45 SOT with 43 hours of usage on a single charge, and that's with AoD enabled, 25℅ brightness indoors, and occasionally, location toggled on at high accuracy. No joke, on a full charge, this phone takes what seems like about half an hour to drop to 99%, even with location on high accuracy. And on standby, forget it. This thing stays put. If I unplug it fully charged and set it down, it'll still be at 100% charge 90 minutes later.

The quad DAC on the phone is really good. Since I listen to music a lot, it makes a huge difference with my 100 ohm Sony headphones. Given these two things, you'd think I'd be happy, right? Well, not really. LG's themes are a joke. And although LG has features, it just feels as if it's just a pale imitation of Samsung. The problem is, I haven't had a Samsung phone since the S3, so I'm a bit skittish about coming back to Samsung.

Now, I'm a light user, meaning that I don't do anything graphic intensive like gaming, nor do I mess about with camera settings, other than the occasional point-and-shoot photo. Would I be able to achieve similar battery life on a Samsung phone, that I have on this V30?

Does the SD or Exynos S9+ or Note 8 with the same battery capacity as the V30 even compare in terms of battery life and headphone audio? Then there's the issue of screen protectors not fitting the curved screens. This V30 came with an IQ Shield screen protector, and it sucks. I bought a UAG Plasma case for it, and the corners are always lifting. It's really annoying. What should I do? Should I go for an S9+/Note 8 or do I wait for the Note 9? I've already listed the V30 for sale in the meantime, so feedback is really appreciated.

 

[dpham00]

Battery life, I doubt you would get those numbers on a s9+ I don't get those numbers on the snapdragon version, and the Exynos version is significantly worse.

Likewise audio won't match the v30.

With regards to screen protector, I found a 2 pack for $18, or $9 a pop glass screen protector with full adhesive that works pretty decently,although not perfect. It should fit almost any case as it is a little smaller than the screen. The white stone dome is better, although it is $45.

 

[Stanley Kubrick]

Sounds to me that what you have is already great for your needs! However, seeing that you are concerned about screen protectors and battery capacity...I would go with the yet-to-be-released S9 Active! If you can't wait for that then get the S8 Active. That way you can still get what you need and trade up when the S9 Active is released ...which should be very soon.

 

[Bryant Laney]

I went from the v30 to the s9 plus and don't regret it. Battery life is much better on the V30 but for day to day use the S9 plus does just fine for me.

 

[LilSweetLin]

I went from the v30 to the s9 plus and don't regret it. Battery life is much better on the V30 but for day to day use the S9 plus does just fine for me.

That's good to hear. I assume you have no issues with call quality or reception? I'm on T-Mobile band 4 in a good coverage area, but I never know with Samsung phones.

 

[LilSweetLin]

Sounds to me that what you have is already great for your needs! However, seeing that you are concerned about screen protectors and battery capacity...I would go with the yet-to-be-released S9 Active! If you can't wait for that then get the S8 Active. That way you can still get what you need and trade up when the S9 Active is released ...which should be very soon.

I thought about that as well, but the Active usually goes through AT&T and now T-Mobile, which I do use, but I'd prefer to have a factory unlocked phone since I plan to buy outright, once I sell the V30.