Phones
 

Made a decision. I'm with Sprint, and they're a customer of mine, but my old HTC Windows 7 phone is getting long in the tooth. I could wait on the Windows 8 phones, but I started looking at the specs of the Samsung Galaxy S4 versus the HTC and Samsung offerings that Sprint will have later this summer.

Looks like I'm getting the Samsung Galaxy S4 today.

Anybody else get into a new phone lately?

I've had the Note 2 now for 5 months. ****ing love this thing.

Nope, but I would be more than happy to accept one that you buy for me.

I've had this Lumia for awhile now -- it is pretty meh.

Thinking the S4 might be the way to go.

Me too. I got mine about 2 months before the S4 came out, wondering if I should have just waited for it but Im really enjoying this huge screen.

A comparison of the S4 versus the Lumia 920

Link

I don't need a list to figure out how much more awesome the S4 is compared to my shitty old Lumia.

Unless you've already signed up for an irrational hatred for the iPhone, you might wait until iOS7 is previewed at WWDC before making a decision. New hardware isn't likely before the fall, but you'll see some of what the new OS can do.

I was hoping the 5S would be here in June...darn.

If that was going to happen, then you'd see leaked pictures of cases and stuff like that from the supply chain by now.

Patience is a virtue.

Unless the iPhone is bigger, I won't be buying it this time.

I think that's a real possibility. I'm more interested in seeing some advancements with the camera lens.

Just ordered a RAZR MAXX HD due to the reviews. Apple almost had me, but not this time.

Except when you're changing jobs and have to buy a cell phone in the next month or so....

S3 great phone can get it for $99

I have the S3.

The HTC One looks nice.

Just picked up an iPhone 5 for the wife. $75 for the refurb. Snagged a Windows phone 8x HTC for myself @$50. Waived activation fees. Thanks AT&T!

Wish the HTC One/mini had a removable battery. Hate these new disposable phones and the Galaxies dont have FM radio on the US versions.

Waiting to hear more about the Moto X, rumored specs put it as a pretty decent mid range phone and everything I've read says its going to have a removable battery but I'm not crossing my fingers because neither Google nor Motorola have been releasing phones with removable batteries recently.

I have an S3, Had an EVO for years and loved it. Wish I would had waited for the ONE. It does look nice.

I had the EVO, too. Rock-solid phone.

The battery thing wouldn't bother me. It would be a big problem if I were still into the whole rooting/flashing ROMs fad. So over it.

These phones have warranties. If the battery fails, they replace it. Most people don't keep a phone longer than a year anyway.

Though I know specs vary and our networks are completely incompatible lol but thought I'd drop in some thoughts from a T-Mobile tech care rep point of view. Basically these opinions are based on customer feedback, exchanges I've proccessed, training classes, and some specs. I know most of you have far more actual tech knowledge just thought I could offer I different prospective on a few options and now that our employee plans are finally set back up I'm phone shopping myself.

1. IPHONE 5-Using the 4S on Verizon before I left for T-Mobile made me rethink my anti-Apple stance. Then after see Android after Android turn into exchange after exchange about a year to a year half in or after one too many updates or whatever the case might be turned me into me into a huge believer in the IPHONE. Plus seeing the recent issues with the S2, S3, and One-S updates I'm just leary of androids at this point especially now that we have the option of the IPHONE. I'd say out 250 calls a week I take, the IPhone calls I get our simple fixes and maybe only a couple a month will end up needing transfers to our Adv Apple Tech Care team. The software, hardware, built in maitnence, etc make this my personal top choice.

2. Galaxy 4- Loved the training class on this device and came away moving it up my list from 5th. Even though the S2 and S3 issues recently scare me bit I'm willing to chalk it up to a temporary drop testing quality on the updates and Androids being Androids during this period in there lifecycle. That being said I've loved the Note 2 and since the S2 and S3 were easily our top 2 selling devices and with no real issues before the previous updates I'm willing to take a little bit of a wait and see approach. Plus intitial feedback and lack of even a first wave exchanges have turned this into a serious contender.

3. HTC One-I haven't received very many calls on this device but I will be honest the few that I do seem to always end up major and will end up in an exchange or trade out. Main reason I have it ranked this high is how well my One-S has performed and suprised me when at the time I mainly chose it for the Beats Audio and I wanted to be different when everyone else on my team was getting a S3. Judging by HTC history and quick reaction and fix after the One-S sofware update issues last month I'm confident they'll get the initial kinks worked out.

4. Sony Xperia Z- recently had a training on this device and came away very intrigued and impressed with what I see on the Tech side and rugged build. Think this phone has a lot of potential. Just waiting to see some initial results, reports from customers, and some more one on one time with the device before jumping head first but it has become a darkhorse.

Misc unscientific phone ramblings
-Not sure if they are making phones for other carriers or just our MyTouch and Prisms but is avoid any phone secretly made by Hauwei. Their first year on device side has been a rough learning expierience and unless desperate avoid like the plague.

-Likewise as much as it kills me to say it as an XBOX gamer and ex Zune fan from the Nokia 710 to HTC 8x its been a rough start and at this point they need to prove it to me first. That being said there is a small minority at my call center that would disagree and are very loyal to there Windows Phone.

-Seems to a have been a major spike in all LG devices calls and trouble shooting

-Lastly if anyone is looking for bang for the buck and don't want to settle for a low to mid range smartphone I'd highly recommend the S3 since the price drop when compared to other phones in that range its an easy choice and a steal.

Anyway hope this helps in some way but if not carry on......

Unlike "most" people, I don't feel the need to throw out a perfectly fine phone to get the new version which has a .2" bigger screen for $300 every year. The whole non-removable battery thing is just stupid. They do it to save a whopping mm here and there... a mm... In reality its just to make that phone you just spent a few hundred dollars on useless after a couple years. And if you are lucky enough to still have a warranty on your phone by the time the battery fails you just have to send it in and have them fit a new non-replaceable battery in it and go without a phone for 2 weeks. Much more convenient...

Throw out?

Sell them.

A used, 1 yr old Galaxy S3 still goes for ~$300, depending on condition.

I have my son on Straight Talk. He has an AT&T compatible SIM.

He had been using a Motorola Atrix HD. He began having issues with the touch screen.

We took it to a local repair store that also sold used phones. They had an HTC One X for $220. They gave me $80 credit for the Atrix.

My point is, used smartphones hold their value well. Especially the more popular ones.

This is why a lot of people get new phones every 6-12 months. This is how I do it.

I'll get right on that so I can lock myself into another contract. Sounds like a plan!

There are no contracts with Straight Talk.

Oh cool. Good thing I'm on Straight Talk...

Sorry to bump this thread back to life I've read thru it and though its helped me its also a little out of date now.

My wife and I are about to upgrade our phones.
I've surfed the web and asked many people which is better the Samsung Galaxy S4 or the iPhone 5.
Opinions are split right down the middle it seems.
Verizon suggests going with the Iphone 5.

The Samsung has the microSD memory card slot, this turns me on.
But the Iphone it seems still comes out ahead on better apps,ease of use.

If any of you have had the chance to use both or can offer some insight plz do.

I'm eyeing the Droid Maxx.

Android and iPhone have pretty much hit app parity. Sometimes they'll be a slight delay one way or the other, but nothing you'll have trouble with. Take a look through the top 100 apps though and check it out, if you're concerned.

Aside from that, go into a store and play around with them. It's very much personal taste; I'm not sure anyone here can say much. I'd personally go for the HTC One over both of those, so even among Android fans, people split different ways.

I'd get the Xperia ZR right now, only downside is that you have to pay full price for an unlocked version since Sony is pretty much ignoring the US market right now.

The ZR comes with 4.5 inches, 1.5 quad core, 2gb ram, expandable storage, removable battery, and water/dust resistance at $500 unlocked. Pretty amazing package for the price when you compare it to phones in its price range like the S4 mini and HTC One mini.

Definitely all this. Best bet is to play around and see what you like. Of course the Moto X is supposed to launch tomorrow so you may want to wait a few days.

I think its just an unveil, its not even an official phone yet but its the worst kept secret. Not sure its launching tomorrow.

I've personally lost interest in the Moto X since its rumored to use a nano-SIM and a non removable battery, even with the 31 different flavor back panels you can get for it. I think its going to be just a slight upgrade over the Nexus 4 and not be worth all this hype.

It's got some interesting features that COULD be groundbreaking if implemented correctly. I'll take a "wait and see" attitude but I'm definitely still interested. Having a separate DSP that handles ALWAYS ON sensors is impressive. They also did some major major work on the linux kernel to optimize it.

I agree about the nonremovable battery, that sucks.

with regard to apps, damn near every free app on my ipad is worthless. but I have some very cool and useful apps on Android that don't require me to buy a damn thing, many without ads.

I am planning on buying the Note 3 if it comes out in September. I owe T Mobile $220 for my SGIII which I can sell for more than $300.

I was concerned about the size but if they are still making them it must not be too much of a problem.

The latest blog post I read states that they will do what they did with the Galaxy upgrade from the 3 to 4 where they will increase the screen size and remove the bezel but not increase the footprint size.

I am not sure about the S Pen. Is it useful?

I had a Palm Pilot back in the day and it was not a great experience.

I've had Galaxy S4 for just over a month now. Its a stunning improvement over the 1st gen Galaxy S (my previous phone). The keyboard alone is worth the upgrade. The screen is big and beautiful.
This phone comes with a lot of advanced functions that I don't use, but I would love to know if other planeteers are using the unique motion, gesture and smart screen functions.

I can upgrade as of today and plan to get the S4. Sprint currently has a BOGO deal on them, so this is a great deal for the wife and I to get new phones.

Ok I'm kind of upset. My contract ended with T-mobile a month ago and I get this text on my old phone about a bill being available and I'm like wth is this? So I do the online rep chat thing on their website and find that I have to cancel the service despite not having a contract with them. The funny thing is the price of my bill is still being calculated using the contract details I had with them. What kind of BS is this? Why do I have to request a service cancellation when I'm no longer under contract with these bastards AND why do I have to pay the exact same price under the contract if it's no longer valid? This is why T-mobile sucks. So freaking done with these swindlers.

Every provider does this. If they didn't people would freak out because their service stopped.

I'm confused... You had a 2 year contract for a phone and are surprised that you got a bill for their services, even though a phone contract has nothing to do with the services?

Motorola done ****ed it all up.

The whole buzz about the Moto X was that it was gonna sport midrange specs with high end performance due to a naked android ui and keep the price down... then they unveil with a $199 and $249 price tag on contract... Why would anyone spend that much when shit like HTC One and S4 cost exactly the same?

Yeah they definitely screwed up on price. I still need to see more info on ACTUAL performance specs before I judge but at this point it looks like S4 still holds the top spot.

I want teh Note 3. Want it nao.

Yeah stupid people who don't think to find out when their contracts are up. I guess that's the majority.

As far as I'm concerned, the contract allows you to use that service, and when it's up, your service is up.

The contract is simply there to make sure that T-mobile, Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint get their money for the price of the phone. They aren't giving you an $800 phone for $200. You are putting a $200 down payment on the phone and then paying off the rest through the life of the contract, and if you terminate early you have to pay a hefty fee to get out of the contract.

It has nothing to do with service.

you really are a tard.

I'm 100% on the "**** T-Mobile" bandwagon. I went into a T-Mobile store last month to purchase a new Galaxy S4. Apparently they don't actually sell phones at the T-Mobile store in my area, you just go in and they can order one for you. Kind of defeats the purpose of having a brick and mortar store, I mean if I wanted a phone shipped to me I could have ordered it myself online. Anyway, the phone ships to me with a faulty SIM card, so I take it in to the same store to get a new one. They charge me $35 for a new SIM card when I JUST PURCHASED A ****ING $600 PHONE FROM THEM THAT NEVER HAD A WORKING SIM IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Its a shame because the S4 is a great phone but every time I take it out of my pocket its a reminder that I am contributing to this piece of shit company every month when I pay my bill. Its a shame there doesn't seem to be an ethical phone company in the marketplace.

Yeah, got two new S4's tonight for $199. Great deal.

LMAOLMAOLMAO The phone I had was a Samsung Gravity Smart. No freaking way $75+/month for 3 years didn't pay that piece of garbage phone off in the first year. You're out of your damn mind. Get off me dude.

No it's you for rooting for terrible teams.

:clap: Thank you good sir. :thumb:

:banghead:

Clueless.

Should probably learn more about how shit works before signing a contract next time.

If you don't mind having a small brick in your pants, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is the way to go. I'm not going to lie. It's a big sum' bitch though, and even bigger with the Otter box hard case I got for it. It's super fast and powerful though, and if you use it for browsing a lot it's the better way to go. I can't stand Apple to be honest so I may be biased on this, but the S4 is a hell of a phone.

I've never owned a Samsung phone but they are the one company I think still gets it.

They still offer SD card slots and removable batteries on flagship devices. Unfortunately, rumors for the S5 have Samsung moving towards aluminum casing and that's likely to end.

I really wish Sony would get their head out of their ass and start paying attention to the US market because that Xperia ZR looks ****ing awesome from a design, size, price, and features point of view.

If you get the S4 here are some great accessories for it. I have the tempered glass screen protector which is awesome and the slim armor view case.

Spigen

I have the slim armor and neo hybrid. Both great cases.

You broke away from apple?

Not completely. I replaced my work blackberry with this as a BYOD option. I could've used my iphone, but wanted to keep work and home separate. I am really digging the S4. It's been awesome so far. My iphone is due to be replaced and I will wait to see what apple does. If they don't have a bigger phone I will either go with another android or maybe a windows phone.

Recently went from iPhone to Galaxy S3. Mixed feelings. Battery life sucks compared to iPhone. Size and specs are nice, and Android is easier to customize. But missing quite a bit about the iPhone.

My son has the S3. We downloaded juice defender (free) because the battery life wasn't that hot. It made quite a difference. After about a week of use his battery life vastly improved. Unless he is sitting there viewing video for hours on end his battery barely gets lower than 60%.

I've got Juice Defender Pro. Also use Titanium backup to freeze all unnecessary apps. I've disabled everything possible. Still isn't near what I got from iPhone.

And no, I'm not going to get one of those ridiculous battery case contraptions or worry about carrying around a second battery. I think that's just silly. I just use my phone a lot less than I'd like.

Every battery test I have seen places the S3 between the iphone 4s and iphone 5 in battery life. And of course the S4 beats them all by a good amount. Are you using the ROM that came from your carrier?

s4 battery is great.

i had the nexus S.....that battery was ****ing terrible.

I've tried several different ROMs including stock, several different kernels, and many combinations of each. And I know every single service running. I've got Juicedefender turning off services by location and everything. Still disappointing. Not awful enough to hate the phone or anything, it's a great phone. I was just expecting performance closer to what you described, but that's not been the case.

I don't blame you there. I wouldn't either. I've had my S4 for about a month and have had only one day where I used considerable battery life. I worked 6AM to Midnight that day and used it a lot. Got it down to the 20% range. Never have come close to that before or since. Love the phone.

Maybe I'll try complaining to the Verizon store and see if they'll throw me a new battery..

Weird. I trust your judgement over the various benchmark sites so that is a bit disappointing. Luckily I am skipping the S3 and going straight to the S4 so hopefully it will be better.

If anyone is wondering why the S4 over the other phones... I actually am picking it mostly because of the IR emitter. That's simply too cool to pass up. (and yes I plan on using it to **** with the TVs in my favorite bars)

Yeah it could simply be the battery itself. My old S2 had decent battery life than went completely screwy at one point. Switched battery and solved.

It's hard to complain, because I like just about everything else about the phone. But there are occasions where my daughter wants to play a game during a long car ride, and ~2 hours of gaming at the absolute lowest possible brightness setting with auto turned off and other functions like bluetooth/wifi/GPS turned off, will still drain the battery dead. And I know this phone well enough to rule out any other odd battery draining issue. I don't know...

I'll see if I can get a replacement battery...

That is such a cool option. I've used it several times already. It's not a gimmick.

I never thought about the bar TVs. ROFL

Love my S4!

Oh I'm definitely gonna screw with it. I could even write a simple app to do it while my phone sits innocently on the bar... muahahahaha

The HTC One has an IR Blaster as well - It is by far one of my favorite features of the phone - that and the dual front facing speakers really sold me

I've always preferred HTC products to Samsung - This year is no different.

Last phones Ive had in the last 2 years: HTC One <---LG Optimus G <---- Galaxy Nexus <----Photon 4G <---- Evo 4G ( I could keep going but should I?)

Damn... Smart phone whore.

I'm still using my one and only smart phone... the HTC Aria but its just now starting to show its age. The power button is starting to crap out and doesn't work every time you push it and I couldn't upgrade my apps because I didn't have enough space, and I only have Gasbuddy and Weatherbug (excluding all the preloaded AT&T bullshit).

The damn Google Play Store seems to be what tries to suck my battery down more than anything else anymore, I just have a LG Venice on Boost, but it is a fun phone overall and works well.

Dang, the Aria is old as hell. My wife and I had them for a few years. We recently went to the HTC one x and HTC one vx. HUGE difference. I'm probably gonna put the Arias on ebay. The dude at the ATT store offered me four bucks for mine!

Samsung must have done something with the note battery. I turn off the data when I'm able to use wifi and have had this battery last over 34 before a charge. Right now I'm on 26 hours.

Just had its 3 year anniversary a couple months ago. When I do upgrade I'll probably keep mine as a backup. It is one of only a handful of phones that still has a FM radio transmitter and I use the shit out of that when I'm riding my bike and exercising, plus you can probably only get like $50 for it.

Makes me sad that I'm probably going to have to pay full price for an international phone to keep the FM radio. Every time a phone makes it over to the US the FM radio disappears... ****ing carriers wanting more money for higher data plans.

I just checked, the HTC one has the fm radio, at least my Sprint version

yep, that was the only tempting thing for me.. but the lack of microSD and removable battery killed it for me.