VZW SGS3 - Gamble Wait?

[DavidM.]

Hey everybody,

I have a couple of questions that I hope I can get some help with. I have unlimited data and want to keep it. I don't have wifi so I use my phone for everything. With unlimited data there's really no need to pay for wifi either. However, I know Verizon is going to be cutting unlimited off with subsidized phone upgrades which means I need to upgrade before they do that because I sure don't want to pay full retail. I've had an upgrade available for a long time (Like a year) and want to use it for something good.

I want to wait for the Galaxy SIII to come out and upgrade to that since it looks absolutely amazing, but with Verizon cutting unlimited it's a gamble waiting. If I wait, maybe the shared plans will come out first and I'll be stuck not upgrading for quite a while. If I upgrade to something else now, maybe the SIII will come out before shared data and I would have been able to upgrade to that.

It's really quite agonizing. Know when the expected unlimited subsidized cutoff is? Know when the SIII is expected to hit Verizon? With the $100 off Motorola devices I'm looking at the Rezound, Galaxy Nexus, and RAZR Maxx, all $199. Which do you recommend?


I like the Rezound because it's got the fastest processor out of the bunch and also integrates Beats audio. However, I don't think I'm really a fan of Sense although I've never had an HTC. Can I get sense-removed ROMs for it? The Galaxy Nexus is also nice but with Verizon a lot of people say it's not really a 'true' nexus. What about the RAZR Maxx? Thanks a lot,

David

 

[B_BODY_1]

maxx is the way to go. Also don't forget all new phones like the s3 might need its bugs worked out first. Also Samsung doesn't have a great track record in the battery, signal and other things. Sorry to be so negitive on Samsung but I've had many androids with them and there was always some sort of issues that made me keep an eye out for the next new tech in phones.

 

[dezymond]

The Rezound is a great phone and yes there are ROMs out there that don't use HTC Sense. Try it out in the store, Sense is much improved from past versions.

The Nexus is a great device as well and although it's been a long time waiting, I believe the official OTA is finally being rolled out. If a "true Nexus" means updates from Google ASAP, then you're right it has failed that meaning of a Nexus. However, it's got the great support of the strong developer community and that's what makes it a Nexus to me; easily unlocked, rooted, and ROMed with tons of different options to choose from, it's almost endless really.

I've heard good things about the Maxx, but I have steered away from it personally. Has the best battery, hands down, and is as good as the other two phones you mentioned. However, for me at least, the screen quality was left to be desired and only the Rezound and the Nexus were in my considerations. For me, if I'm looking at the phone and I am not blown away by the screen, then it's a dealbreaker for me, the Rezound and Nexus screen blew me away and the Nexus just seemed to be the total package for me. As for issues, I've personally had none with my launch day Nexus, but they're pretty famous for their mediocre radios, but the 4.0.4 update fixes that along with some other bugs.

 

[npro1464]

Just wait. Verizon will announce a date before they put it into place, just like they did when they initially stopped unlimited data last year. Out of those phones, Id pick the Maxx. Just wait, or go to Sprint if they ditch unlimited too soon- they have to keep unlimited long enough to catch all the fallout from Verizons decision to cut unlimited.

The GS3 will trump everything. Its a sexy beast and these phones can't hold a match to it. I can't wait till it drops and might even leave VZW for it.

 

[hyisbm]

I'm in the same boat. Looking at the same phones as you but leaning towards the Maxx because of battery life. I'm thinking the most I am willing to wait is another two weeks. Then I have 14 days to return it if something comes out by then. that gives me at least a month for any more news regarding the data packages and new phone releases. It sucks that we have to do this but I'm just not willing to risk anything right now.

 

[mysticalmalissa]

My experience with all three phones mentioned is...

GNex was horrible, dropped calls, low signal, horrible camera, and feel of phone was "cheap".

Droid Razr Maxx, excellent battery, everything else is pretty typical Moto. Feels great in the hand and has a better camera then previous moto Droids.

Rezound...Amazing camera, can talk and surf the web at the same time (major plus for me), can do screen shots. Battery life is not the greatest, phone is kind of chunky in the hand. If you arent a fan of sense, Go Launcher works fabulous on the Rezound.

I too have an upgrade I have been sitting on for a year and I'm waiting until the last minute to use it. lol

 

[JeffDenver]

With the $100 off Motorola devices I'm looking at the Rezound, Galaxy Nexus, and RAZR Maxx, all $199. Which do you recommend?

I like the Rezound because it's got the fastest processor out of the bunch and also integrates Beats audio. However, I don't think I'm really a fan of Sense although I've never had an HTC. Can I get sense-removed ROMs for it? The Galaxy Nexus is also nice but with Verizon a lot of people say it's not really a 'true' nexus. What about the RAZR Maxx?

First off, the Rezound doesn't have the fastest processor. It is comparable to the Razr and Nexus. You can't go by ghz.

That being said I'd still recommend it over anything else on Verizon right now. Best camera, SD, removable battery (I have the extended one and it is awesome), true 720p display, excellent 4G and gps reception. I am running the leaked ICS update and it is AWESOME.

The incredible 4G is better than the Rezound in every way... Except the display. It is only qHD like the Razr. It is also physically smaller and has NFC.

The GS3 will probably not actually be available till August if then. Not saying it won't be worth the wait, but you may be waiting a while. Verizon is notorious for taking forever to roll out new phones... They never did get an actual version on the GS2.

 

[JeffDenver]

I'm in the same boat. Looking at the same phones as you but leaning towards the Maxx because of battery life. I'm thinking the most I am willing to wait is another two weeks. Then I have 14 days to return it if something comes out by then. that gives me at least a month for any more news regarding the data packages and new phone releases. It sucks that we have to do this but I'm just not willing to risk anything right now.

I am getting Maxx-like battery life with the extended battery on the Rezound.

 

[JeffDenver]

The Rezound is a great phone and yes there are ROMs out there that don't use HTC Sense. Try it out in the store, Sense is much improved from past versions.

Running the ICS leak on the Rezound... Even using a 3rd party launcher over Sense, it is like Sense is not even there. And ICS allows me to disable anything... Including bloat and Sense.

 

[npro1464]

First off, the Rezound doesn't have the fastest processor. It is comparable to the Razr and Nexus. You can't go by ghz.

That being said I'd still recommend it over anything else on Verizon right now. Best camera, SD, removable battery (I have the extended one and it is awesome), true 720p display, excellent 4G and gps reception. I am running the leaked ICS update and it is AWESOME.

The incredible 4G is better than the Rezound in every way... Except the display. It is only qHD like the Razr. It is also physically smaller and has NFC.

The GS3 will probably not actually be available till August if then. Not saying it won't be worth the wait, but you may be waiting a while. Verizon is notorious for taking forever to roll out new phones... They never did get an actual version on the GS2.

The way things are lookin, the GS3 will be out before then on all major carriers. The Sprint/VZ GS3 just got passed to the FCC, and the TMo one is supposed to drop the same time as Canada (June 20, just 17 more days!). I think the Galaxy will be released at or near the same time on all carriers, and I actually think this will drop before unlimited granfathered data is done. Verizon wouldnt be that stupid to lag behind on the GS3, they have to know how important this phone is. Then again, i didnt think the Bionic would have been delayed to September.

 

[Quicksilver7714]

Hey everybody,

I have a couple of questions that I hope I can get some help with. I have unlimited data and want to keep it. I don't have wifi so I use my phone for everything. With unlimited data there's really no need to pay for wifi either. However, I know Verizon is going to be cutting unlimited off with subsidized phone upgrades which means I need to upgrade before they do that because I sure don't want to pay full retail. I've had an upgrade available for a long time (Like a year) and want to use it for something good.

I want to wait for the Galaxy SIII to come out and upgrade to that since it looks absolutely amazing, but with Verizon cutting unlimited it's a gamble waiting. If I wait, maybe the shared plans will come out first and I'll be stuck not upgrading for quite a while. If I upgrade to something else now, maybe the SIII will come out before shared data and I would have been able to upgrade to that.

It's really quite agonizing. Know when the expected unlimited subsidized cutoff is? Know when the SIII is expected to hit Verizon? With the $100 off Motorola devices I'm looking at the Rezound, Galaxy Nexus, and RAZR Maxx, all $199. Which do you recommend?


I like the Rezound because it's got the fastest processor out of the bunch and also integrates Beats audio. However, I don't think I'm really a fan of Sense although I've never had an HTC. Can I get sense-removed ROMs for it? The Galaxy Nexus is also nice but with Verizon a lot of people say it's not really a 'true' nexus. What about the RAZR Maxx? Thanks a lot,

David

I currently have both a Nexus and a Razr, not The Maxx. I like them both while the Nexus does have a weaker radio, all Samsung devices do, I still like it. As long as you are in a strong network area you should be fine.

As for the Razr, I have owned several Motorola devices and have found that Motorola's radios are the strongest out of the three, HTC, Moto and Samsung. Plus the Smart Actions is a very nice app. I use my Razr as a work device where I constantly stream Pandora for about 4-6 hours on average every day. Plus I usually end up spending about 2 hours on the forum before the battery dies.

I have owned two HTC devices and both were decent, Droid Incredible and the Thunderbolt. Most people will tell you that HTC Sense is a battery hog. I tend to agree with this statement as I saw improved battery life on my TBolt when running a third party launcher. Also IMO HTC phones tend to have sub-par battery. My main frustrations with HTC is the idiotic notion to not include a larger Standard battery in a more powerful device. The battery size in the Incredible was 1300mAh while the 4G Thunderbolt only got a slight boost in battery to 1400mAh and the Rezound is only clocking in at 1650mAh. That's not to say that it won get you through the day but you might have to plug in depending on your usage. Now the Tbolt was fast but had horrible battery life. While the Droid Inc was nice it did have decent battery life but my Droid X still had much better battery under the same usage conditions.

- Rooting-
Now if you want to Root and ROM your device I would have to say get the Galaxy Nexus, followed by the Rezound. Since both phones can have their bootloaders unlocked. The Razr Maxx is my last choice only because it has a locked bootloader. But the huge battery size and smart actions app really do make it an awesome phone even when not rooted.

-Reception-
If your looking for the phone with the best reception than the Maxx should be your first choice followed by the Rezound and lastly the Nexus.

As for performance all three phones are on the same level. Processor speed does not necessarily mean a faster device. Both the Nexus and Maxx have a TI 1.2GHz processor while the Rezound has a 1.5 Snapdragon processor. All three phones have 1GB of memory. While only the Rezound and Nexus have 720p displays where the Maxx has a qHD display. Now if you happen to not be in a 4G location the Rezound does offer one feature that the other two devices lack, SVDO. Simultaneous voice and Data. Basically you can be in a call and browse the web at the same time when in a 3G network area.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2