Razr Maxx HD vs. Galaxy s3

[geoff5093]

Yep, just googled it. The m, hd, and maxx hd all have nfc (near field communication)

Sent from my XT912 running Scalpel CM10 jelly bean

It has NFC, but photos aren't transferred via NFC. I they get transferred by wifi direct

-Sent from my Droid DNA

 

[revelated]

It has NFC, but photos aren't transferred via NFC. I they get transferred by wifi direct

-Sent from my Droid DNA

Negative. You can most certainly Android Beam photos from the RAZR HD/MAXX HD to another NFC device. Works from Gallery.

 

[Gleason81]

I live in a rural Nebraska town and don't ever have any signal strength issues or dropped calls. I've always had good luck with Moto phones in this regard. I am debating the two devices (DRM HD & SGS3) and am only hung up on my concern for signal strength/dropped calls. Does anyone on this thread live in a rural area and have any issues with the SGS3 as far as signal strength/dropped calls? I've read a decent amount of concerns on this for the Samsung device and would like some feedback from some owners. I'm aware of the difference between the two devices and this is the only hang-up for me. P.s. I'm on Verizon.

 

[geoff5093]

Negative. You can most certainly Android Beam photos from the RAZR HD/MAXX HD to another NFC device. Works from Gallery.

Hmmm... I always heard that NFC was for small data transfers, such as websites, contacts, etc. On the GS3 touching the phones starts the connection by NFC, but uses WiFi direct to actually transfer the images and videos, which allows the phones to be separated rather than having to keep the phones touching for several minutes.

 

[joshxdroid]

Hmmm... I always heard that NFC was for small data transfers, such as websites, contacts, etc. On the GS3 touching the phones starts the connection by NFC, but uses WiFi direct to actually transfer the images and videos, which allows the phones to be separated rather than having to keep the phones touching for several minutes.

I saw my brother in law use Wi-Fi direct on his note 2 tonight. It's slick. So either way I wouldn't worry about it. Transfers will be easy no matter what you use

Sent from my XT912 running Scalpel CM10 jelly bean

 

[revelated]

Hmmm... I always heard that NFC was for small data transfers, such as websites, contacts, etc. On the GS3 touching the phones starts the connection by NFC, but uses WiFi direct to actually transfer the images and videos, which allows the phones to be separated rather than having to keep the phones touching for several minutes.

I believe the only requirement (which I think is silly and flies in the face of "standards") is that both devices have to be on the exact same OS.

For example, if I try doing it from my ICS RAZR MAXX HD to my Jelly Bean 4.2 Nexus 7, I get a large file error. However I know I've done this transfer when I used to have a Galaxy Nexus running Jelly Bean and sending photos to that same Nexus 7 before it was 4.2.

 

[dan.dar]

In JellyBean nfc establishes connection, then photos and videos get sent with Bluetooth so the devices don't need to be next to each other. Still not as fast as S-beam but better than what is available in ICS.

Sent from my MAXX HD.

 

[SynysterBurns91]

I live in a rural Nebraska town and don't ever have any signal strength issues or dropped calls. I've always had good luck with Moto phones in this regard. I am debating the two devices (DRM HD & SGS3) and am only hung up on my concern for signal strength/dropped calls. Does anyone on this thread live in a rural area and have any issues with the SGS3 as far as signal strength/dropped calls? I've read a decent amount of concerns on this for the Samsung device and would like some feedback from some owners. I'm aware of the difference between the two devices and this is the only hang-up for me. P.s. I'm on Verizon.

I live pretty far outside of town, and a good distance from the nearest 4G /regular cell tower, and haven't had any problems worth reception or signal. Obviously, its slower than being in town, but I've never had a dropped call (except in a couple universal dead zones) with my GS3. Hope this helps MAXX HD was exactly the same for me. Data speeds were maybe just barely better. I stuck with the GS3 for other reasons.

 

[maggiesdime]

I had the s3 and I ended up having to swap it for the Razr Maxx. I live in a very rural area and the phone conversations were choppy. You could only make out every other word. Once I switched phones the calls were fine. I loved the s3 and would have kept it had it not been for that. The screen was awesome and I loved the phone overall. I would rather have the HD but it was not out yet when I swapped.

 

[TechnologicallyChallenged]

I live in a rural Nebraska town and don't ever have any signal strength issues or dropped calls. I've always had good luck with Moto phones in this regard. I am debating the two devices (DRM HD & SGS3) and am only hung up on my concern for signal strength/dropped calls. Does anyone on this thread live in a rural area and have any issues with the SGS3 as far as signal strength/dropped calls? I've read a decent amount of concerns on this for the Samsung device and would like some feedback from some owners. I'm aware of the difference between the two devices and this is the only hang-up for me. P.s. I'm on Verizon.

I had the GS3 for a week and a half and traded for the Maxx HD after dropping a few calls. No problems with the Motorola phone yet.

 

[Brian72]

Another that can't make this decision

Great thread guys. Came across this last night while researching the GS3 vs Maxx HD question and spent an hour reading all 28 pages. Here's a quick summary of my issues/questions. Please chime in and let me know if I'm misunderstanding anything and what you'd suggest based on my situation.

1) I have the Fascinate (original Galaxy S), and have been pleased although it is now a complete dog and badly in need of replacement. Verizon/Samsung killed this phone early with some bad updates that killed battery life. I'm worried this might happen to me again. Should I be concerned?

2) I travel internationally and the Galaxy S is not supported in most countries in Europe. I'm assuming the US version of the GS3 is the same (not a true global phone). My phone does work fine in China, Mexico, and Canada which is where I travel most. It would be nice to have my phone for the once or twice a year trip to Europe, which has me leaning toward the Maxx HD and it's GSM support. Although I could have my company give me another phone to use for these trips.

3) The Maxx HD bothers me with the on-screen buttons. They turn that nice 4.7" screen into a 4.3ish" screen when browsing the web. Advantage GS3, correct?

4) Battery life: I'm a light user (around 400MB a month). Clearly Maxx HD is better here, but the only times I heavily use the phone is on the 16 hour flight to China watching movies. I pack a couple of spare batteries now and could do that as well with the GS3. Two pack of highly rated Anker batteries with wall charger on Amazon for 20 bucks. With 3 batteries on a flight that long I'd probably get more time with the GS3 than I would with a sealed Maxx HD.

5) Memory and RAM: I could put plenty of music and movies on a 64GB card for the GS3. Although 32GB for the Maxx HD is not bad, and it sounds from my reading like 64GB card will work on Maxx HD. For what I do I can't imagine 1GB RAM would cause issues, although that extra gig would seem to make my phone more likely to perform for 2 years.

6) HDMI out: This is one of the reasons I'm leaning toward the Maxx HD. Makes it real simple to plug in to the hotel TV when travelling. Though I'm guessing I could get a cable for the GS3, just not HDMI, correct?

7) Screen crack issue: Heard some rumors about this issue on the GS3. Is it covered under warranty if it happens in the first year? Anyone have this issue? I don't use a phone without a case, and even with Gorilla Glass I use a screen protector. Both do have Gorilla Glass, correct?

8) Gyroscope: I've read a lot that this gives the advantage to the GS3 since the Maxx HD lacks one. I'm not even sure I would notice this. Not a gamer. Thoughts?

9) Price: $75 on Amazon for the upgrade GS3, 16GB. $175 for the Maxx HD, 32GB. With the spare battery purchase and 64GB card purchase I'm still at under $140 for the GS3. The 32GB version of the GS3 is the same $175. Is there any advantage to having more memory on board?

Sorry for the lengthy post, but any feedback is much appreciated!

 

[bsweetness]

Great thread guys. Came across this last night while researching the GS3 vs Maxx HD question and spent an hour reading all 28 pages. Here's a quick summary of my issues/questions. Please chime in and let me know if I'm misunderstanding anything and what you'd suggest based on my situation.

1) I have the Fascinate (original Galaxy S), and have been pleased although it is now a complete dog and badly in need of replacement. Verizon/Samsung killed this phone early with some bad updates that killed battery life. I'm worried this might happen to me again. Should I be concerned?

I wouldn't be. The few updates for the S3 so far have brought improvements. With as much as this phone has sold, I don't think Samsung will let any major sub-par updates slip through that could impact the reputation of the brand.

2) I travel internationally and the Galaxy S is not supported in most countries in Europe. I'm assuming the US version of the GS3 is the same (not a true global phone). My phone does work fine in China, Mexico, and Canada which is where I travel most. It would be nice to have my phone for the once or twice a year trip to Europe, which has me leaning toward the Maxx HD and it's GSM support. Although I could have my company give me another phone to use for these trips.

Unlike the Fascinate, the Galaxy S3 on Verizon has full GSM radios. At this point, they haven't been enabled in the software, but at launch Verizon promised that they would. In the several leaked builds of Jelly Bean for the Verizon S3 (which is expected in the next month or so), global GSM roaming is there. So yes, once the Jelly Bean update arrives, the S3 will be unlocked and fully capable of GSM.

3) The Maxx HD bothers me with the on-screen buttons. They turn that nice 4.7" screen into a 4.3ish" screen when browsing the web. Advantage GS3, correct?

In my opinion, yes. I like having full use of the complete screen the entire time. This is definitely a matter of personal opinion though. Some people like the on-screen buttons and having a smaller usable screen area.

4) Battery life: I'm a light user (around 400MB a month). Clearly Maxx HD is better here, but the only times I heavily use the phone is on the 16 hour flight to China watching movies. I pack a couple of spare batteries now and could do that as well with the GS3. Two pack of highly rated Anker batteries with wall charger on Amazon for 20 bucks. With 3 batteries on a flight that long I'd probably get more time with the GS3 than I would with a sealed Maxx HD.

My thoughts exactly. I had the first MAXX, and while the battery was phenomenal, if I found myself away from a means of charging for an extended period, I was screwed. With the S3 (which, outside of MAXX/MAXX HD and upcoming Note 2, is one of the best performers on Verizon from a battery standpoint), not only do you get fantastic battery life, but you can also switch out with spare batteries like you said.

5) Memory and RAM: I could put plenty of music and movies on a 64GB card for the GS3. Although 32GB for the Maxx HD is not bad, and it sounds from my reading like 64GB card will work on Maxx HD. For what I do I can't imagine 1GB RAM would cause issues, although that extra gig would seem to make my phone more likely to perform for 2 years.

A 64GB card will work with both the S3 and the MAXX HD. You can also buy a S3 with 32GB of internal memory that matches up with the internal memory of the MAXX HD. There really aren't any issues with the 1GB of RAM in the MAXX HD, but you actually do see a difference in devices running 2GB of RAM. It's not huge, but it's definitely there. And like you said, at the very least it's good for possibly making the device a little more future proof.

6) HDMI out: This is one of the reasons I'm leaning toward the Maxx HD. Makes it real simple to plug in to the hotel TV when travelling. Though I'm guessing I could get a cable for the GS3, just not HDMI, correct?

With a MHL adapter like this one, you can do HDMI out on the S3 (and use a standard HDMI cable). You just have to make sure to get a MHL adapter that's made for the S3 (it uses a different design than is found in previous MHL adapters). The MAXX HD certainly makes it a little easier if you have a micro HDMI cable, but with the adapter it's still easy on the S3.

7) Screen crack issue: Heard some rumors about this issue on the GS3. Is it covered under warranty if it happens in the first year? Anyone have this issue? I don't use a phone without a case, and even with Gorilla Glass I use a screen protector. Both do have Gorilla Glass, correct?

There have been reports of the screen cracking on the S3, but truthfully, with over 20 million devices sold worldwide (probably over 25 million by now), if it was a major issue or potential problem, you'd be reading about it all over the internet. It's something that has happened to a few people, but with any device, there's always going to be something that happens to a few people. I wouldn't let this influence you one way or another.

8) Gyroscope: I've read a lot that this gives the advantage to the GS3 since the Maxx HD lacks one. I'm not even sure I would notice this. Not a gamer. Thoughts?

If you don't play a lot of games, you won't notice it. And even if you do, it's not a huge difference for most games.

9) Price: $75 on Amazon for the upgrade GS3, 16GB. $175 for the Maxx HD, 32GB. With the spare battery purchase and 64GB card purchase I'm still at under $140 for the GS3. The 32GB version of the GS3 is the same $175. Is there any advantage to having more memory on board?

Well, the first obvious advantage is that it maximizes your storage. If you want to carry a ton of media files around, 32GB internal plus a 64GB microSD card gives you more storage. You'd have to decide if 16GB is worth the extra $100 for you. Personally, I think $100 for 16GB more is robbery.

A second thing to consider is the amount of apps you install. Android no longer officially supports moving apps to the SD card (although you can still do this if you root your phone). If you install a lot of large apps (which are normally games, and you said you're not a gamer), you can blow through that 16GB of internal memory pretty quick (especially when there's really closer to 11GB available). But if you don't install a lot of large apps, and find a 64GB microSD card large enough for your needs, then 16GB is the way to go. I have a 16GB S3, and I haven't had any issues. And if I should happen to start running low on internal memory due to large apps, I can always root the phone and move some apps to the SD card.

 

[sweeeeet]

^just to add.. samsung announced 30 million gs3s sold the first week of November

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[bsweetness]

^just to add.. samsung announced 30 million gs3s sold the first week of November

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

:thumbup: I figured it was somewhere around there at his point, but I must have missed the announcement (and I didn't want to risk exaggerating the numbers).

 

[sweeeeet]

:thumbup: I figured it was somewhere around there at his point, but I must have missed the announcement (and I didn't want to risk exaggerating the numbers).

it is a staggering number add 5 million note 2s and we can just say that samsung is doing something right

I know lots of people fell in love with past devices from moto or HTC but Samsung is putting out some great devices and the numbers speak for themselves

this is a vid of the testing that they do (not in English) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc9c5YFyovU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

with such a huge amount of phones produced and sold there's bound to be some duds... my DROID1 died (bricked itself) after 3 days and that was a great device... I didn't even make it to 2 years since the digitizer broke on my replacement.... there are instances in any market with anything really....unfortunately not all will be perfect

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