There are areas where you will have no coverage if you don't have band 12 (mostly rural from what I've seen on several forums).

If a phone doesn't have VoLTE (Voice over LTE), T-Mobile has been demanding that band 12 be disabled. You could run into a situation where you were in a band 12-only area, show that you had full signal, but could only access data and not be able to make a voice call. Due to liability regarding not being able to call 9-1-1, T-Mobile told phone manufacturers to disable band 12 (it happened with an update to android). This happened with the Moto E and people were pissed. They got the phone because it had band 12, had great in-building coverage for a while, then upgraded android and lost band 12 and the corresponding coverage.

I think it took ~6 months for the Nexus 6 to get band 12 enabled. From what I've read phone manufacturers have to go through a lengthy certification process conducted by T-Mobile. I wouldn't count on the new Nexus phones having band 12 at the time of release.

Why Is T-Mobile Telling Manufacturers To Remove Band 12 LTE Support From Some Unlocked Smartphones? [androidpolice.com]

[Updated] T-Mobile Says The Nexus 5X And 6P Won't Have Band 12 LTE Support (For Now) [androidpolice.com]

T-Mobile Unofficially Speaks To Us About Band 12 LTE / VoLTE And Unlocked Smartphones, And Yep It's Still Confusing [androidpolice.com]

PSA - Moto's 5.1 Update to the 2015 Moto E Disables Band 12 [reddit.com]
(A Motorola Support employee discusses the situation).

Unlocked Moto G 2015 no longer has Band 12 LTE [reddit.com]

I mean, I agree that 16gb is terrible and we should be at 32GB standard, but lol at "a joke for the price". This phone is $270 cheaper than the iPhone that also has 16gb, and significantly cheaper than any other comparable phone save for, what, the Moto X Style?

Smart phones are generally $600+ for the flagship lines. Google had to cut corners to achieve that price, and in the case of the 5X it was storage, processor (808 instead of 810), wireless charging, expandable storage, etc.

If you want a premium phone that has top of the line specs across the board, you're going to need to pay for it. In this case, you can get 32GB for $50 more, and it's still much cheaper than other comparable phones at $429.

@sba
Thanks for the detailed answer.

You're welcome.

I'm also thinking about going to T-Mobile from one of their MVNOs, so I've been looking at this situation.

imho 16gb base model is completely fine and useful; as long as they offer a 64gb model for AT MOST 50$ more. 16/64/128 for 25$ resp. 50$ surcharge would be the dream (and btw still easily profitable for the producer)

who cares about memory anymore? Don't we all use gdrive and everything cloud?

At the very least it's useful to keep your music on/in your phone. I would hate to rely on a stable connection anytime I wanted to listen to tunes.

If you're a gamer, app's are exploding in size.

I've a few that are > 2.5gb

Looking for an app for Craigslist. It looks like they don't have an official one but other people make them. Anybody have a recommend for the best free Craigslist app?

I just noticed my data plan went from 20 GB on 4G then throttled down to 50 GB a month. For no extra money. For 20 euros. Gotta love free market.

People who live in the US. Our phone/data plans are way more expensive than Europe.

Yea Google just increased the max app size in the Play store too.

About a week ago I bought a second hand / refurbished LG G Watch (the original square screen one). Figure some of you might like some feedback given these devices are starting to really come down in price and it's much easier to justify buying one.

My device was used to some degree but sold though Amazon themselves, sent out by their logistics team, so I genuinely don't know it's history. I have always liked the look of the G and I am so unfashionable that I don't give the slightest of care that it doesn't pretend to be a normal watch and is a blocky black piece of plastic. It feels like it looks, but after doing lots of research the only reason everyone consistently said that it wasn't worth getting is the looks. In terms of hardware it's almost identical to the new Moto 360, what you are losing is wireless charging (only the two 360 models do that anyway) and it doesn't have wifi connection so it's Bluetooth only. At 50-60 pound it's basically reaching the price point of being cheaper than a lot of G Shocks. The strap is garbage, but it takes most sized straps so it's easily improved in look and feel over the stupid rubber things LG saw fit to use. Battery life is a comfortable two days with the screen turning off (always on will lower life of course, but not too much), you could stretch to three depending when you want to end day three.

I'm not sold on whether a watch needs to be able to make calls via the phone on bluetooth, it might be useful time to time I suppose, but a speaker will add quite a bit of functionality for notifications or reading back info at your questions etc (one device has one already, but Wear doesn't support its use so who knows if or when this function gets integrated). So yeah, if your dreams are of a dick tracy watch phone calling your mum it's not happening on Wear, and never happening on almost all the currently released devices.

Android Wear is the key experience and screen shape aside the experience between all the watches will be basically identical. The cliff notes here is I like Wear but I would never recommend a full price $300+ device unless you really really like the admittedly nice looking Huawei watch. I am sure everyone knows how the OS works, it's all swipes and cards and is mostly logical and easy to navigate around stuff. Info is in cards below. Apps are to the right in a list. A few toggles and settings and quick contacts are to the up and towards the right. Even now a year on Wear Launcher is one of the must have just to have a better app drawer and some more toggles. There are tonnes of face options, some interactive letting you open apps or showing their own features like weather, some basically glorified gifs. The lower res small screens kinda limit the ability to pop and be special, at least one app let's you use photos but getting it to work well as a watch background is not so easy compared to a phone background.

Notifications are genuinely ok. I mean, can a notification be awesome, but it is functionally great to get an email or message in a lecture, glance down at a watch and subtly work out if it's worth doing anything with it or just ignore it. Its impossible to subtly look at a phone. Using Light Flow (paid version) to make the watch vibe three long buzzes I don't even need my phone to be off mute anymore. Considering this is the supposedly key feature of a smart watch I'd rank it something like third best feature. You are not missing out much unless you are in a workplace with strict phone policy or you constantly get streams of messages and I guess want to look at a small screen first before a big screen, because reasons.

Smart lock is really good. My phone is fingerprint locked except when my watch is connected then it's slide to unlock. Obviously you lose some security, but it's balanced by having convenience. For those who don't use smart locks you can temporarily put it back on fingerprint (pin password or pattern etc) from the lock screen, so if you need to leave your phone somewhere for some reason it can be secured from the lockscreen. I much prefer this to using locations for smart lock, it's definitely more secure (phone gets stolen, turn off watch, phone is instantly locked even when it's in range). Its a small thing but worth mentioning.

Voice search and recognition in general is really good. Google has really nailed voice recognition over the past two years when it was basically garbage. I have entered Google Keep notes with it, done a few searches and setting timers hands free when cooking is awesome. A smart watch finally brings true hands free control and info, but it's not quite there yet. Too often asking for info will shoot stuff onto the phone, so you're kinda limited at this point to a wide range of functions, but not a complete experience. Maybe the Wear browser is the salvation of this limitation, not tested yet. If you use voice commands several times a day on your phone this will be a well used feature, if you don't you're both missing out and also losing what I think is the key feature of Wear.

Getting info on Wear through apps is my number two reason to get one. Shopping lists on Keep are just better on a watch than a phone, Calendar for Android Wear is something I look at regularly because Agenda built in only shows the current day and Now notifications can only get you so far. Am I free two weeks on Wednesday at 4pm is a question my watch can answer in four seconds. I live out of my calendar and keep though, so this might not be the selling point to others it is for me. Then there is the auto info, Google now cards mosly.

Apps. Short answer, there is like ten and five of those are the same as the other five. There is a good calculator, a good calendar, a Wikipedia app and apparently games that some crazy people made. Look Behind that let's you view the camera feed of your phone is cool but so super niche that it's hardly a selling point. I dunno how but Google needs to improve this but it needs more. The built in stopwatch, timer and alarms are all ok, nothing special but they work. Weirdly they don't use the circle interface that Google built in their clock app for the phone.

Wear isn't about apps. That is an iPhone thing, and it's fine but obviously limiting in what the device can then do. But then no one should be reading on a kindle app on one or playing games except maybe goofy time wasters like the bird tap game that was briefly popular. Doing a quick calculation on one is plenty useful though and I like the calendar and Wear apps. YMMV.

The final area Is media controls. Its not quite right. I think too many devs are confining themselves to the card interface in a weird way and they are not taking stuff to the next level. Example, Play Music should have a playlist, right? Nope, forward or back only with no info for what to play next (along with play pause and volume as you'd expect. Do I need an entire card for Thumb up and Thumb down (each, not even one for both) and why is the first card just the name of the song and artist with a pause button set against album art? Why not have a mix of controls there on card one, then card two a play list, then three I can navigate to start new music and I can turn off the thumb stuff cos I never use it. Having basic control over Netflix and streaming video to Chromecast works but none of this is feature rich. Its a first world problem solver. My phone is charging over there and I'm sat over here watching Netflix and the are you there prompt comes up, oh no. All said I use this stuff a lot, to its credit it's quick and functional, but only because it is there and always knowing it should be better.

So to sum up:
1, Wear isn't finished. I hope. For the love of baby raptor tell me this isn't it. They need someone to go in there and kick ass really laying down the law. A real Steve Jobs figure who is all about designing to the nth. We are still technically just in the first wave of devices and the next gen won't be anything more fabulous because of backwards compatibility, design is getting good and in 18 months buying an Urbane for 40 quid will be nice, but software needs a lot of polish.
2, For all the negatives I do like my smart watch. I wear it basically all the time and regularly leave my phone in one room while spending time in another because I am always plugged in. That might be a negative and I might have issues. I use all its key features, they just aren't all I want. If I paid more I'd have been disappointed I think, but at its price it feels like a bargain. If hardware guys want to justify $300 they need to get the software guys including Google themselves working on improving the experience.
2, Fundamentally I value a smart watch at about 100 pound, plus another twenty to thirty if looks matter to you to price in the old 360. So there are no new devices I would recommend but there are lots of second hand and refurbs that will give you all the experience at a reasonable price point. Want pretty, buy a first gen 360 and charge it daily. Don't care, buy a G and charge it every other day for half the price. Want both, gamble on those Chinese Zenwatches on Ebay. But at that point you get a decent digital watch that does more than a G Shock or a Suunto can (depending on which device it is), fundamentally that is where I would pitch the devices right now which probably isn't a big sell for most people. However the experience on a year old device is nearly identical to a top of the line current gen, like that $1800 fossil watch uses the same OS as my G, it just looks prettier. The Sony 3 is still one of the most advanced wear devices with its built in GPS and yet it's also one of the cheapest too (second cheapest after the G).

I am in the market for an upgrade on my S4 (Verizon). I still have the old unlimited data plan, so I am going to purchase the phone with cash. If price isn't a factor, what is the best Android phone on the market right now? Scrolling back through the thread I see some different opinions. Right now, I am leaning to the Note 5.

Do you have any kind of preferences at all? Because there's no perfect phone yet, so every phone is a trade-off.

Really depends on your priorities. Bigger screen (5.5-6") or smaller screen (5.2 or smaller)? Need a big battery or just one to get you through the day with normal use? Do you care about the camera? Need expandable storage? Etc etc

Give us some more information and then we can make suggestions.

Makes sense. I am tall and do not have small hands, so I prefer a big screen. I want a good battery. My S4 will not make it through the day (and I am not a heavy user) and it drives me crazy. I would like expandable memory, but it is not a deal breaker. I do want a good camera. I have a toddler and most of the pictures we take of her come from the phone.

The reason I am slightly favoring the Note 5 is because I have read that the build quality is very good, the battery is strong, and it has an amazing screen and camera.

Here's an interesting thought. Do you know that you specifically want an Android phone? If so, why?

If not, the iPhone 6+ or 6S+ might be right up your alley. I'm getting a vibe that it might suit you better.

In the Android world, the Note 5 definitely might be a good option. I have the G4 which I love and could be a good option for you as well. Pros are better camera, removeable battery, expandable storage (other ones too imo), cons are it's a smaller screen and potentially lower "build quality".

You might want to check out the HTC m9 if only for the expandable memory, I'm sure you're going to get many videos and pictures of your growing little one and it'd be nice to just toss in a 128 gb card and know youre not going to miss anything

Nexus 6p maybe, should be released this month IIRC

I am not totally opposed to an iPhone. My wife has always been an iPhone user, but I have always enjoyed Android more. I usually root my devices, and will flash new ROMs. There just feels like I can do more with my Android device than I can with Apple. It is something I will look into, though.

I would recommend the Note 4. Its got everything (amazing camera, expandable storage, removable battery etc). The only downside is its not as sexy as the Note 5 but who cares since you'll probably just use a case.

What do they call the Moto X Play in America? That has a decently big screen, huge battery, good camera and microsd.

It's called the phone that's not available in America.

In wporter's shoes, I'd probably wait a few weeks and go for a Nexus 6p myself (preorder now), but stock Android and fast updates are important to me. If he's familiar with Samsung and likes their skin and additional features (Multi-window, stylus, etc) then the Note 5 would be a good choice. Nexus 6p will be easier to root and ROM, which is something he mentioned being into.

He could get the Moto X Pure rather than the Play, but I think the Nexus 6p is better than the Moto X Pure overall.