Earlier this week when I turned on my ZTE Axon 7 phone, I noticed an update was pending. I took a look at what the update was all about and the information shown on the update screen informed me that it was the long awaited Nougat update.
Out of the other Android phones that I still use either occasionally or regularly (Nexus-4, OnePlus One, & BlackBerry Priv), my ZTE Axon 7 is the only phone to officially receive the update for Nougat. I decided to accept the update and after a seamless download/installation, my ZTE Axon 7 received Nougat (Android 7.0).
Daydream seems to have been enabled on my ZTE Axon 7 and I noticed that I was also able to install Netflix VR, Google VR Services, and YouTube VR onto my Axon 7. Unfortunately I don't have a VR headset yet so I have not been able to test it but this gives me more incentive to purchase a VR headset or try the Google Cardboard that I got last year.
I've used my Axon 7 intermittently this past week and I don't notice much of a change with Nougat installed on it. My daily driver phone is currently still my OnePlus One along with my BlackBerry Passport) so this might be one of the reasons why I don't notice much of a change with my Axon 7. I did test out the split screen and I don't see myself really using this feature on my phone. However, I can see myself using it more on a tablet size device but unfortunately none of my Android tablets have Nougat installed on them. After installing Nougat on my Axon 7, the menus appear slightly different but not different enough that they presented me any issues.
If you have any comments/questions regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment containing a URL link (whether embedded or not) will automatically be flagged as spam and will not be posted.
Monday, February 13, 2017
Monday, February 6, 2017
Roam Mobility Review/Thoughts
I've been using Roam Mobility for a few years and I thought that I would write my thoughts/review on their service.
Roam Mobility is a US SIM card designed mainly for Canadians traveling to the US that allows for unlimited calling (Canada/US), texting (Canada/US), and data options. It also allows for data only plans. I primarily use Roam Mobility for the data only plans since I have a grandfathered unlimited calling/texting/data US prepaid plan which cost less than Roam Mobility's unlimited daily plan.
Roam Mobility has gone through some changes since I've been using them but this blog entry describes their current service. Currently in order to keep the SIM card active, the subscriber must purchase a daily plan or data plan at least once every 12 months. At one point, it was 12 months and then lowered to 6 months but currently it has changed back to 12 months.
The daily plans is purchased beforehand and can be scheduled to start after a traveler arrives in the US. It is purchased via credit card. Their different plans are purchased via their webpage and charged directly to the traveler's credit card. The daily rates range from $4.95+taxes per day for unlimited calling (Canada/US), texting (Canada/US), and data to $2.95+taxes per day plan for unlimited texting (Canada/US) and unlimited 2G data. Even though the data is unlimited is throttled to 2G after the 4G/LTE daily limit is used up (~500MB/day). The taxes depend on the customer's home province. They also have a $3.95+taxes per day plan for unlimited calling/texting (Canada/US) for those customers who don't require data. 2G data is sufficient for instant messaging and e-mailing but it is too slow for any streaming and personally I would say that it is also too slow for web browsing. I would say that it is also too slow for using the Facebook app on the phone.
As mentioned, I will generally only purchase their data only plan since I find their unlimited plan to be more expensive than my prepaid US grandfathered daily plan. There are also sometimes when I go to the US (or a family member goes to the US) and doesn't want an unlimited plan. For example, paying $4.95+taxes for a day when you will only make a few calls a day and speak for roughly 10 minutes costs over $0.50/minute when there are certain prepaid plans that can cost as little as $0.05/minute. I found Roam Mobility's data plan to be good but in the US city that I was visiting, their service wasn't the best. I believe that they use T-Mobile's network since I also had a T-Mobile phone with me and I had roughly the same reception on my Roam Mobility phone as I did with my T-Mobile phone.
Roam Mobility used to offer telephone support but they no longer offer telephone support. When they did offer telephone support, I found their support to be very good. Their support now is only available via webform. During my last trip to the US, I tried to get support via their webform and I have found Roam Mobility to be unresponsive. During my vacation/trip to the US in January 2017 (which is why I didn't update my blog during that time), I had issue with their service and logged in a request on the day that I arrived in the US and even after getting back one week later, I have still not heard anything back from them (beyond getting a ticket/reference number). Based on my lack of response, if you have issues during your trip for service that you prepaid for, you might continue to have issues until you come back to Canada.
If you have any comments/questions regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment containing a URL link (whether embedded or not) will automatically be flagged as spam and will not be posted.
Roam Mobility is a US SIM card designed mainly for Canadians traveling to the US that allows for unlimited calling (Canada/US), texting (Canada/US), and data options. It also allows for data only plans. I primarily use Roam Mobility for the data only plans since I have a grandfathered unlimited calling/texting/data US prepaid plan which cost less than Roam Mobility's unlimited daily plan.
Roam Mobility has gone through some changes since I've been using them but this blog entry describes their current service. Currently in order to keep the SIM card active, the subscriber must purchase a daily plan or data plan at least once every 12 months. At one point, it was 12 months and then lowered to 6 months but currently it has changed back to 12 months.
The daily plans is purchased beforehand and can be scheduled to start after a traveler arrives in the US. It is purchased via credit card. Their different plans are purchased via their webpage and charged directly to the traveler's credit card. The daily rates range from $4.95+taxes per day for unlimited calling (Canada/US), texting (Canada/US), and data to $2.95+taxes per day plan for unlimited texting (Canada/US) and unlimited 2G data. Even though the data is unlimited is throttled to 2G after the 4G/LTE daily limit is used up (~500MB/day). The taxes depend on the customer's home province. They also have a $3.95+taxes per day plan for unlimited calling/texting (Canada/US) for those customers who don't require data. 2G data is sufficient for instant messaging and e-mailing but it is too slow for any streaming and personally I would say that it is also too slow for web browsing. I would say that it is also too slow for using the Facebook app on the phone.
As mentioned, I will generally only purchase their data only plan since I find their unlimited plan to be more expensive than my prepaid US grandfathered daily plan. There are also sometimes when I go to the US (or a family member goes to the US) and doesn't want an unlimited plan. For example, paying $4.95+taxes for a day when you will only make a few calls a day and speak for roughly 10 minutes costs over $0.50/minute when there are certain prepaid plans that can cost as little as $0.05/minute. I found Roam Mobility's data plan to be good but in the US city that I was visiting, their service wasn't the best. I believe that they use T-Mobile's network since I also had a T-Mobile phone with me and I had roughly the same reception on my Roam Mobility phone as I did with my T-Mobile phone.
Roam Mobility used to offer telephone support but they no longer offer telephone support. When they did offer telephone support, I found their support to be very good. Their support now is only available via webform. During my last trip to the US, I tried to get support via their webform and I have found Roam Mobility to be unresponsive. During my vacation/trip to the US in January 2017 (which is why I didn't update my blog during that time), I had issue with their service and logged in a request on the day that I arrived in the US and even after getting back one week later, I have still not heard anything back from them (beyond getting a ticket/reference number). Based on my lack of response, if you have issues during your trip for service that you prepaid for, you might continue to have issues until you come back to Canada.
If you have any comments/questions regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment containing a URL link (whether embedded or not) will automatically be flagged as spam and will not be posted.
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