Help me pick a new phablet to upgrade to, because I don't like Note5

August 29, 2015 8:01 PM

I have used the Galaxy Note2,3,4, and I loved them. I specifically love the removable battery, and the external sd card slot, along with the huge screen and really long battery life. Help me pick my next smart phone (as the note 5 has no removable battery/ micro sd card)

I was planning on upgrading to the Note 5, but it has no battery and no external micro sd card. I really enjoy top end Android smart phones, with a huge screen, and external micro sd card. I would even use the Galaxy 7" Tab (I tried it before but the battery life was HORRIBLE). I'd like a recommendation for a phablet smart phone that has the following, in aproximate order of importance.

GSM (can use my straight talk wireless [ATT towers] sim card to get the 4G fast data)
Huge screen (at least 5.5", and preferably smaller than 8.5")
Long battery life (hopefully at least as good as note 4?)
External micro sd card slot (preferably can use my 128gb micro sd card)
Android OS
Removable battery
High end model (fast processor)
Super fast charging like my note 4 has (it can go zero to 60 in 30 minutes)

posted by crawltopslow to Technology (5 answers total)

Totally unsourced rumor: I asked a friend who works in the industry this same question tonight, and she said that the next version of the Nexus 5 is supposed to have a removable battery and slightly larger screen than the current model. No word on an SD card slot though. It's supposed to be announced in October, so I'm planning to wait and see.
posted by Anoplura at 9:23 PM on August 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Good Tip Anoplura! Also anyone else.. if you know of upcoming phones, that'll work for me too!
posted by crawltopslow at 9:39 PM on August 29, 2015

The new nexus 5 is reported to use the snapdragon 808. Another phone that is coming out with that processor is the Moto X Pure, which fulfills everything but the removable battery part. It should be out shortly. If you can wait, I would totally do so though, to see what the Google will have to offer in their nexus line. I've heard rumors of two phones, one more phablet sized.
posted by zabuni at 9:50 PM on August 29, 2015

GSM Arena's phone finder will help you in your search, you can filter by screen size, removeable battery etc. You have very similar preferences to mine. Though I'm currently on the non-removeable battery Sony Z Ultra, in future I will be looking at the swathe of excellent Chinese phablets, like the Red Mi Mate 2, and even some of the more obscure brands; the phones represent excellent value.
posted by smoke at 3:43 AM on August 30, 2015

Oh also consider the LG G4

LG seem committed to separate batteries long term, bless em.
posted by smoke at 3:57 AM on August 30, 2015