Help Thinking of switching to Android from WP8.1, but...

[A windows phone user]

Hello everyone!

So, here's the thing: I've been using my Windows Phone HTC 8x for the past 2 years and have really enjoyed it, but since I've seen Android 5.0 today, I'm considering of switching.

I have one serious question that makes me apprehensive of the switch though. I really like the HTC One (M8), and if I stick with Windows, that's what I'll be getting (I'm on Verizon). So I've spent all afternoon looking at the HTC One on Android, and I'm left scratching my head...

From the videos I've seen, I LOVE the UI of Lollipop, but what is this talk about Sense 6 and Sense 7? I don't want HTC to force some "other" UI on me that I can't remove. I like Lollipop's stock UI, so I'm curious if there is an easy way for me to get and keep the stock UI. Because I don't want to get stuck for 2 years using an interface I don't like.

Everyone talks about the customization of Android, so is there an EASY way to have a stock Android phone while using Verizon, specifically, a stock HTC One? Because I've seen videos of making a Verizon HTC One a GPE version, but that seems like a pretty involved process just to get an option that should be made available from the start.

Thanks.

 

[chanchan05]

Depends on what videos you've seen, but if you've been looking at videos of HTC One's you're seeing Sense 6/7. Anyway, without rooting, you can't get the exact stock interface because manufacturers hard code their UI onto their Android installations. You can make them look like stock though, just change the launcher, lockscreen, SMS app, etc. All of which are available on the Play Store.

All in all though, generally Sense doesn't remove anything from the stock UI, just adds onto it. Aesthetics is a personal preference though. Have you seen videos of the HTC One's UI? Personally I think Sense looks pretty good.

 

[Crashdamage]

You have 2 problems that make getting what you want difficult.

First, you want a HTC M8 without the Sense UI overlay. Don't blame you, I prefer plain vanilla Android also, that's the main reason I always buy Nexus devices. Just can't stand Sense at all. You can get around Sense to some extent by installing 3rd party launchers and such, but Sense has its tentacles everywhere in the OS and you can't get rid of it easily.

The good is HTC makes a Google Play Edition of the M8 running pure, unadulterated Android. The bad is that the GPE M8 is not compatible with Verizon.

Which brings us to your second problem. You're on Verizon. Verizon still uses CDMA technology, but 80-90% of the world uses GSM. This limits your choice of compatible phones. To make matters worse, Verizon severely limits what phones they allow on their network, mostly to force you to purchase equipment from them.

There are ways to achieve what you want but not easily. You said that you wanted an easy way to get a new phone running unmodified Android 5.0 Lollipop on Verizon. If it were me, I'd blow off Verizon and save some money while increasing my equipment choices.

If you insist on staying with VZ, then the best advice I have is to give very serious consideration to the Moto X 2014 version. It's an excellent phone, similar in features to the M8 but runs an almost pure version of Android - as in about 99% pure Android.