Moto G7 Review with Alexa installed!

Moto G7 with Alexa Hands-Free – Unlocked – 64 GB – Ceramic Black (US Warranty) – Verizon, AT&T, T–Mobile, Sprint, Boost, Cricket, & Metro
Disclaimer :  Amazon isn’t paying me for this review and I get a small amount of money from people who use my links to buy products from Amazon.   Other than that this will be a straight up honest review.

The Back story

I’ve always loved Amazon for over 10 to 15 years.   I’ve always used them to do my buying of stuff from movies to electronics when I can.  When I need a new cell phone or something else,  I’ll go to Amazon and check to see if I can get it there cheaper than around here.   So you see how much I use Amazon from day to day.   Lately I’ve been looking at buying a new cell phone for me.   I loved my other cell phones on Amazon.   I found the Motorola G7 with Alexa installed on it and you could make monthly payments, which was sweet because it was a little higher than I would like to pay all at once.  When I bought this phone, I was paying 60 dollars a month for 5 months for this phone. 

Specs of the phone:

Power
  • Operating System – Android™ 9 Pie
  • Processor – Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 632 processor with 1.8 GHz octa-core CPU and Adreno 506 GPU
  • Memory (RAM) – 4 GB
  • Internal Storage – 64 GB
  • Expandable Storage – microSD Card support (up to 128 GB)
Battery
  • Battery Size – 3000 mAh, Non-removable
Display
  • Display Size – 6.2″
  • Display Technology – LTPS LCD
  • Resolution – Full HD+, 403 ppi
  • Aspect Ratio – 19:9 (2270×1080)
  • Display Design – Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3
Camera
  • Rear Camera Hardware – 12 MP ( f1.8, 1.25um pixel), 5 MP depth sensor, LED flash, PDAF (Phase Detection Autofocus)
  • Front Camera Hardware – 8 MP (1.12um pixel), Screen flash
Audio
  • Speakers – 1 receiver, 1 bottom-ported speaker
  • Dolby – Dolby Audio™
  • Microphones – 3 microphones
  • Headphone Jack – 3.5mm headphone jack
  • FM Radio – Yes

My thoughts on this phone

(Positives)

The phone was speedy and the ease of it was really.   The display was big enough for me and I could watch movies and shows through Netflix with no issues.   I loved the storage size and the ability to add even more storage which I bought a 64 GB Micro SD card.  It helps for me to have the extra space for my audible membership.   I simply love Audible and listen to my favorite books as I go to work or other errands.  Android Pie is really nice and very handy even the Google voice commands are working great with the phone.

(Negative)

So the negative of the phone is some what just my observations of using it.   The Alexa capabilities are nice but was something that I had to disable and enable Google instead.   It really wasn’t to hard just a little bit annoying but for the benefit of paying monthly this wasn’t a really bad situation.   The Battery Life, which is good for people who don’t use your phones a lot is good but for someone who plays games and uses a lot just won’t last all day.   The Display and brightness was also annoying because when it is really bright outside you would have a problem unless you turned up the brightness, which drains the battery even faster.  The Gorrila Glass 3 that it comes with still broke at least twice with the use of the phone.   I replaced the screen twice and It might of been because I kept putting it in my pocket.  If you buy the phone, I suggest buying a holster or something to put the phone when you are traveling.   The first time I broke it, it had a cover and tempered glass protector and I accidentally dropped it.  The second time, looks to be around the middle where I might of done it myself.   Motorola should make their screens even more durable for the end users.  

Finally

All in All,  I am happy to use the phone and the voice and video chats are sweet using it but you know you the screen issues are a real problem.   I still love the fact that I can charge the phone rather quickly and be able to play games on it.   I just hope they fix the issues that I talked about and hopefully will think about fixing these issues.   Have you used the Motorola G7 and what do you think about it?   Leave a comment and tell me your experiences on the Phone and tell people what you think about it!

 

Nokia Lumina Phones work with Straight Talk Sim!

Straight Talk Makes it easier!

If you’ve wanted to have another phone besides what is offered on their website.   This is the time to invest in a phone of your choice to use with Straight Talk.  According to their website this is what they say:  “BRING AN AT&T OR T-MOBILE COMPATIBLE GSM PHONE, OR AN UNLOCKED GSM PHONE make sure it operates on our compatible frequencies“.  Your probably wonder some questions.  I’m here to answer them.

What is the Compatible Frequencies?

The Frequencies range from 380 to 1800 spectrum and thus if your looking for an unlocked cell phone, you can pretty much buy a phone with that range and it should work.   So if your like me and wanting to go to Amazon [Affiliate Link] or other places that might have an unlocked phone, this is the first thing you should look for.  You will see something like this on Amazon : “GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900” which is what you are looking for. Read More

How to fight text message spam on your cell phone!

Fighting Spam is a Never Ending process!

I got a text message on my phone and it said:

Need a little extra $ today? Bills past due? We can help, visit www.24hrquickfunds.com, takes 5 minutes or less 0.9122046

After Doing some research, I found a pastbin file:

From: 7605147163
Sent: Jan 16 5:45pm
Message:
In need of some quick $? We offer up to $1200 instantly.
Its easy and takes 5 minutes, www.24hrloanvip.com

www.24hrloanvip.com,60.190.222.136

Announced By
Origin AS Announcement Description
AS4134 60.176.0.0/12 CHINANETZhejiang province network

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Contacting Straight Talk was a Waste of time!

I tried to call Straight Talk wireless since I am using their prepaid service.   So I was told they couldn’t block it or do anything about it.  I decided enough was enough.  Since they weren’t going to help me, I’d help myself.

The First step is of course finding the carrier that spammer sent the text message from.  This however will not help you since it requires you to have access to the phone in question.   So I thought I would help you find it another way.

If your looking for the spammers cell phone network, then you can do a reverse cell phone look up. I found a great little widget to find the network:

The widget searches public and premium listings. White Pages APIs are used for locating numbers. Unpublished and mobile numbers can be viewed via specialized directories while landline numbers are traced via public databases.

Now it is time to Email!

Once you kn
ow which network they are on, you can simply email the abuse department and have them investigate the text messages that are spam. Most companies have a NO Tolerance to spam with emails and thus have the same tolerance to spam as text messages. It is merely letting the right network know that it is going on. Here are a Few email address that can help you:

  • AT&T and Cingular Wireless — abuse@att.net, although I have read calling them can sometimes get you the help you need. It is however very difficult to speak to someone who can do anything about it. This way you can be sure that when you send it to the abuse department that it is being documented somewhere and somehow. You also retain a copy of the sent email for later on.
  • Verizon — Abuse@verizon.net, you may
    also email them using their website. There isn’t an abuse subject like but you can always select other and then put the information down there.
  • Sprint — abuse@sprint.net, that seems to be the best approach. Although if your a sprint customer, you can simply block them from what I understand. If you have questions on that though. Please refer to sprint because they know what they can and can’t do.
  • T-Mobile — forward message to 7726 (which spells “SPAM” on most phone keypads) if you have a T-mobile account with them. if not you will have to call 1-877-453-1304 and report the abuse that way. I am sure there is an email address but unsure as to where to send it.

There are probably other providers that you need to talk to but these are my top 4 that will most likely be the culprits of the sending the spam text messages. If you have any other suggestions feel free to leave a comment, I’m sure others are fascinated as to how to stop some of these types of abuses with getting spam SMS messages and not knowing how to fight for your rights.

Paul Sylvester

How I buy a Prepaid Cellular Phone without worrying!

English: Cut-away cell phone Image via Wikipedia

“Will this matter a year from now?”Richard Carlson

Let’s face it, sometimes I often wonder if buying a cell phone will survive a couple of years.   You really don’t want to have to replace every year and thus you try to find that one cell phone that will stand the test of time.

You walk into any phone store or grocery store and you will find either phones or cards to put more money on the account.   That makes me worry how effective the cell phones are going to last and the quality.

Buying prepaid cell phones can be even more hassle because of not knowing which network they are on or the capabilities of the cell phone.   If you been looking at their online store say for instants Cricket Wireless, you will see that there are many phones but yet no important information.    It’s is like they left stuff out intentionally that should be there.

Looking Under the Hood!

Sometimes when I am looking for a cell phone to buy, I start my process off going to a wide range of sites like:

Let’s face it, if you know the phone you are most likely wanting to buy then you will at least know the model number and thus you can use that to find the information your looking for.  Although that will provide the significant amount of the information, there will still be a few things that they will be able to tell you.    Which Network is that Phone one?

Network Usability

Most carriers have a limited amount of coverage around the US and the World and thus can be quite confusing going to their website and trying to determine if you are under their coverage area.   Why do they make it so hard?   I can’t answer that but I know how I solve that problem for me.    I’ll share a trick that probably no one else has thought of.   Just let your fingers do the walking.   Is this some kind of Joke?

I’ve found that just calling the local providers let’s you know if they are reliable or not, if your really search savvy you can find out what others are saying about that carrier your local area.   This can be a great tool to judge if that phone or carrier is going to be a head ache or a really jewel.    Most times carriers will try to hide some of this so you may have to dig down deep to get to the good stuff.

What are your steps to buying a Prepaid Cell phone?

Paul Sylvester

Shop at Amazon.com!

 Related articles

Finding out which network carrier you are using with Pre-paid Cellular Companies!

Movida 2011 – 01 Image by radiofabrik via Flickr

Not all Carriers are the Same!

Hey Let’s face it, you thought it would be so simple to have a prepaid cell phone account. You just can’t figure out why your signal or speed is just so terrible. If your like me, when you create an account with Tracfone, Straight Talk, Jitterbug, Movidas, MetroPC and Cricket Wireless.

Although you might of thought it wasn’t going to be all that hard to figure out why.   It  could just be simply your wireless network that you are being leased or rented from.   Those prepaid companies don’t really have any actually networks, some of them might work different in each region and you will only know by trying.

Finding out your Network

If your in a hurry, you can always go to whoismycarrier.com and have them text you your carrier information.   I however feel that might not be the best approach because of Privacy and there is no way to know what they do with the number once they have it in their database.   I prefer to find it out myself.   Here is How I find out which carrier I am on when I need to know!

Create an Account with Google Voice

 

After Setting up a Phone Number!

Tell Google Voice which number you want to forward to!

Once you Verify Cellular Phone Number.

Go into your Setup!

Just Click on the Sprocket and Settings!

Go to the Phones Tab

Edit Phone Number

Click check operator!

Once you update that, You will see which Carrier you are using!

That’s It!

If you follow this tutorial, you will find out which network you are on.   You won’t have to worry about spam from unwanted companies and thus.   It will however cost you minutes but if you don’t mind spending a few minutes on your phone you will find out just as quickly as anyone else.   You may have to wait an hour or two before you can find out the carrier but mine was instant.   It will be different from carrier to carrier.

If you are using Straight Talk, please feel free to visit my other post and tell people what phone your using and which network you are using to better help others find out what to expect.

Paul Sylvester

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