Not sure why I'm back here but I've had a change of heart and wanted to update this thread with my 2 cents.
Being on T-Mobile's JoD is awesome because you get to try as many phones as you want, and you could even use one of your jumps to switch back if you regret a jump. I've basically been getting the newest LG or Samsung flagships as they come out. Yes, you will always be paying a monthly payment and lose the money you put into a phone whenever you jump, but it's so worth it to always have the newest, fastest, best phone. On top of that, the amount of promotional items I've collected from preorders through JoD is staggering. I think I've gotten about $1000 dollars worth of free stuff in the last year and a half and that in itself makes up for the cost of the plan.
Here is my timeline of phones so far
V10 > Note 5 > Note 7 > V20 > S8
I did love the V10, its ruggedness, it's quirkiness, and how it just worked.
After upgrading to the Note 7, I completely forgot about the V10. Yes I understand that the affected Note 7 units were a dangerous hazard to the world but the unaffected phones were a dream. Hands down the best phone I had ever owned, outperformed the V10 without question. The icing on the cake was the ability to put a microSD card into the sim card slot (and the free 256 GB microSD card I got from Samsung for preordering the phone). When it was time to return the Note 7 (T-Mobile made me.. I was still sleeping with the phone under my pillow
), I went to the V20. Stark difference from the V10 - they went away from the rugged bezels and back cover to a more solid block of metal. It looked nicer for sure, but I don't think I liked the change. The phone wasn't as comfortable in the hand without the rubber back and I felt like I could scratch and damage the phone much more easily. In terms of performance, when I first got the V20 it was doing pretty well. I had already gotten over the second screen and was almost never using it. Still had light bleed (because of refraction) from the second screen to the larger screen just like the V10. The phone played games well, the screen was large and bright. A month or so later, the phone was getting very sluggish. No amount of deleting apps, clearing caches, restarts, or optimizations would make it run better. It even got to a point where it would just randomly shut off and reboot when doing the most basic things like loading a webpage on chrome. I got really annoyed with LG at that point and was anticipating the S8. I got the S8 2 months ago and have not looked back. The S8 is almost everything that the Note 7 was but better (except for the absence of the stylus). I don't know what was up with my V20 - whether it was actually some external factor affecting the phone or if it was just badly designed/implemented but I think Samsung has won me over again.
There are a few things I like about the V20 over the S8:
-LCD screen makes whites look whiter
-Wide angle camera was cool for occasional use
-Directional mics were somewhat useful
I do want to iterate over a few points where I initially thought something was a pro but later realized it was not a pro (for me):
-Removable battery
I initially was excited about having a removable battery. I go hiking and camping a lot and I was planning on using my phone more for pictures while out and about so the idea of being able to pop in a new fresh new battery and go from 0-100% seemed amazing. In practice, my LG phones had a much worse battery life than my Samsung phones. So while I had the ability to swap out a dead battery for a new one with the LG's, most of the time, my Samsung would just last the entire day and I wouldn't have to worry about it. The Samsungs could hold a charge longer and had a lot more software built in to help you reduce battery usage and maximize battery life. Fast charging worked well on both brands.
-Military grade durability
When you get an $800 smart phone every 3 months... being careful becomes second nature. I've gotten to a point where I'd rather have a much sleeker phone, one that fits into my hand better.
One that isn't easy to fumble and is more imporantly dust and waterproof. The military grade strength is cool, but I'm not dropping my precious phone anytime soon. I opt for the thinnest, sleekest cases instead of the Otterbox. Why buy an expensive phone with world class design elements and then shove it into a thick rectangular plastic box? If you're a clutz, then I'm sorry...
-Second screen / Edge
Useful in theory but the lack of more granular customizability makes it boring. It became a permanent clock for me. It takes up too much phone real estate, stretching the length of the phone to an uncomfortable point. Why even have the plastic bezel at the bottom? I could care less for the edge software features on the Galaxy phones. The edges make the design of the phone and I think they are the sexiest part of the way the phone looks and feels but I could care less about the added edge menus. You own a smart phone. You can achieve the same multitasking/quick switching goals through 3rd party apps or launchers. You don't need to dedicate a whole screen to that.
- Stylus (Note Phones)
Again this is cool and extremely helpful for notes when you don't have pen or paper but I'm a working adult... I have a planner and notetaking paper near me most of the time because I work in a professional environment. Maybe if you like to be minimalistic and not carry anything but your phone, this would be a must have. In comparing the Note 7 and the S8, I don't think I miss the stylus too much. This won't stop me from getting the next Note phone that comes out.
I'm glad so many people are loving the V10, that was a great phone. The fact that people still post to this thread tells me that a flagship phone will sell for a long time, even if newer versions are released afterwards. If anyone here is considering the V20, be wary.