Note 3 to Droid Maxx

[squeak]

Ok, I've got a Note 3. It's got an awesome screen, good battery life, a built in stylus, and is pretty fast. It also gets horrible reception, has touch wiz, and a locked bootloader. The horrible reception is my main issue with it. I've gone to Verizon and they sent me a new SIM card. It helped slightly, but not tons. I've owned several Motorola phones over the years (OG RZR, two OG Droids, Droid X, and Droid X2) and never had any reception issues with any of them. When I moved from a two year oil Droid to the Galaxy Nexus I noticed that the Droid had better reception (this was before my area had 4G so it was a pretty even comparison). I've read up on these issues and it seems that I'm not the only one who's had these problems, more so that Samsung's phones in general are near the back of the pack in terms of reception. Now I've convinced myself to get rid of the Note and get something that actually does what any phone should be able to do, call and text. I just about had my mind made up to get a Moto X, but then I realized that I could get the MAXX and have the same processor and radios but with a bigger screen and battery. I've read a lot of reviews, and tried to do as much research as I can to make a good decision before purchasing my next phone. Most of the Maxx reviews spoke very highly of the performance of the phone, especially since it debuted with a slightly dated processor, and few really had anything bad to say about the phone outside of the lackluster camera and steep on contract price. I am not an avid photographer. If the camera can take the occasional picture and I can tall what the picture was of I'll be satisfied. Also, I'll be getting the phone used and at a fair price, selling the Note 3, and actually putting money in my pocket. So here are my questions: How's the reception on your phone? Have you had any issues with your phone? Do you think I'm and idiot for wanting to "downgrade" phone?

 

[xeene]

Two most important things in a smartphone are battery life and reception. Droid maxx is the king in both areas. Its only weakness is its camera because it sucks at macro shots and has no options to change resolution.

I've come from galaxy nexus prior to maxx and also had horrible reception. We bought a new house where I could hardly get a 3g signal with a Samsung phone, but droid picks are 4g lte no problem in exact same location. I was shocked how horrible samsung radios were.

 

[jfriend33]

Amazing reception. It didn't get number one on the top 5 list of worst radiation for nothing! Lol.

I really wouldn't consider the maxx a downgrade unless it was your only android device. If I need a bigger screen I use my Nexus 7. Sure the maxx camera may not fend as well as the note 3 but generally speaking you'd be able to get more shots in with quick capture. A flick of the wrist and the camera is ready. I only have poor quality in ultra low light where the flash isn't enough.

If you can, get a 32gb model from Amazon. Otherwise if you're a comcast customer order through them as you'll receive the phone for free, and get a $150 visa gift card in 6-8 weeks. Had you gotten it in June you would have qualified for an extra $100 verizon credit from Motorola trade up.

We have 5 lines, 2 smartphones with unlimited and 3 feature phones. Yes we basically have endless upgrades. But we don't like wasting them.

My first Android phone was a droid 2, then a Galaxy nexus. Asurion had no 32gb models available so they gave me a new razr maxx hd last March.

I got my maxx in September. And our 2nd lines razr maxx had charging issues so we just got our second maxx last month.

We were hesitant for a while because we need tethering. And she didn't want to unlock her bootloader like I did. So now there's root available. And for the memory issues we aren't concerned because micro usb flash drives exist now a days.

I will say I highly recommend the verizon branded fonas micro usb led 2.1 amp home charger. I can top off my battery without having to leave it plugged in overnight.

I get 6 hours of screen time sometimes more. And 48 hrs easily. But I generally like to top off my battery from 30% to 90%.
I didn't notice any super annoying bugs. I use SwiftKey keyboard and that helps with typing. I missed my blackberry media control from long pressing volume keys to skip tracks so I use an xposed module. I also needed xposed to disguise root as I use isis frequently. That is a huge money savings and a whole other post in itself.

Bottom line, spec for spec it may look like a downgrade. But you've got specific dedicated processors in the phone that get the job done. Gone are the days of worrying about battery life and missing the perfect photo op.

And active notifications are so awesome you will never want to change. I will never miss the color changing led and the guessing games involved... My phone knows when I'm driving, when I'm sleeping, and is very intuitive.

Most of all, you'll get a great near stock android experience. Motorola is great because they update our phones in a timely manner in addition to having crucial parts of the system update via the play store without any interruptions or restarts.

I can't wait for the next refresh of the droids! Let alone the 360!

Sent from my unlocked consumer edition Motorola Droid Maxx xt1080m.

 

[rustydog]

I had Note 3 reception problems VZ replaced it under warranty. That fixed it..

 

[squeak]

Well I made the change, and I don't regret it! Thanks to all who replied.