Well, my impression of the T5p is that it’s not really practical to use as a portable headphone because it’s not really closed. So I ultimately treat it as an at-home (or at least a quiet place) audiophile headphone to listen to, which is what the HD 800 is.

The Sennheiser HD 800 is notable for its absence in this review. It’s currently priced right in line with the T5p.2 and competes for the same audience. Unfortunately, I’ve not had enough time with the HD 800 to speak authoritatively about it. I have, however, requested the updated HD 800 S that launched around the same time as the second-gen T5p, and once I spend some time with it, I’ll look to compare the two to decide which German manufacturer has done the better job.

A yes from me on "an HTC."

Oppo R9.

You’re allowed to buy a Nexus in April. I permit it.

The thing I’m getting at is the diversity and sheer of number of latest-spec phones available at the same time. Nexuses might be the best option, but at the time when they’re released (October-ish), most other phones are a few months old. The period coming up now is when almost everything will be fresh and shiny and new.

What do you mean? All the Galaxy S7 review units were on Verizon, from what I recall. Admittedly, many of the more fun, spec-pushing phones are coming out of China these days, but that’s not really a Verizon issue.

This whole episode is the diametric opposite of leaving an AI to learn by itself.

Relevant to your interests: https://www.fairphone.com/.

Good point that I wished I’d made more explicitly. This is also a direct response to that group, which I imagine is relatively small, but still exists and should be served with the same high specs as everyone else. The interesting thing to me is that Android manufacturers aren’t even thinking about that size — we consider the 5.1-inch Galaxy S7 a small phone in that category.

Apple’s tagline is "a big step for small." I fear we’re all falling into the pun trap here, but hey, sometimes it’s alright to just go with it.

Pure speculation: because LG pays them to. From a user’s perspective, an LG Play accessory means zero setup. The phone and the certified accessory would automatically recognize and sync up with each other. So the user benefit is evident, and the LG benefit of user satisfaction is evident, so why wouldn’t LG spend some money to incentivise accessory makers’ participation?

LG could tell you. I’ve been asking them about future backwards compatibility for weeks. They refuse to commit either way.

You are correct.

The latter.

Fair point. There are also a number of global smartphones from other brands that get discounted in China in order to compete in that more price-sensitive market. But Xiaomi’s goal is obviously to sell to more than just the Chinese consumer, and this phone shows the company has (almost) all the pieces to build a compelling smartphone. Western price would surely be higher, but the Mi 5 would be competitive even with a price bump.

Like, say, the Galaxy S7?