Mobile Phones

Dennis has an original Google Pixel but he's having issues where he has to reboot it. Turns out it's a motherboard issue with is the phone. But the recall has passed and he was never notified. Leo says that he isn't sure companies are required to inform their customers, though they should. Google is also going to retire that model anyway, so it's high time to get a new one. Leo recommends the Google Pixel 3A, and it's on sale right now for around $229. Best deal out there right now.

Mark is concerned that Motorola mobile phones aren't secure since Lenovo, a company from China, now owns it. Leo says that while China has raised the standard of living of most of its people, it's been at a terrible cost of freedom. Also, China has stolen much intellectual property in the last few years. But the ability to manufacture electronics cheaply in China has been beneficial to everyone. But if you're going to use a mobile phone, it's going to be made in China, no matter what brand it is.

Chef Guy wants to know if the pure Android experience on a mobile phone is really better than what you get with Samsung's Touchwiz overlay. Leo says that the pure Google Android experience is better, but there are some things that Samsung adds, like their hearing test option, can be beneficial. But for every one of those, there's a Bixby, which is of no help whatsoever. Leo really likes Google's Pixel 4. Unfortunately, 128GB is the max storage and it doesn't come with an external media option. 

Tom has a Motorola Moto G with Google Photos sync. He deletes the photos from his phone, but it continues to download the images back. Leo says there's a setting in Google Photos to delete local copies of the photos you backup to Photos. You won't lose them if you enable it. In fact, it's streaming that image to your phone in Google Photos. So they aren't really there, they're just thumbnails.