Best and newest 3G smartphone?

[baldybill]

Hmm, living in a 3G only area, and seeing that Verizon's 4G keeps having problems that even affect the 3G part of a 4G phone,
I'm not sure if I want a 4G phone yet.

So, what is the best, newest, 3G phone?
(Prefer something rootable)

 

[dezymond]

Can't go wrong with the Inc2. Friend of mine has it and they've had no problems at all with the phone. Droid 3 is another solid choice as well.

 

[baldybill]

Any other's thoughts?

what about the droid x2?

 

[Art Vandelay]

Dinc2 is probably your best choice. Its root able, but honestly just get a GNex, RAZR, or Rezound. You can turn LTE off to save on battery if you don't live in a 4g area. You are buying the phone for 2 years, I'm sure in 2 years all 3g places will have 4g.

The outages will not last forever. The network was bogged down with all the new activations. Verizon will have it sorted out. At least I hope so.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using DroidForums

 

[dezymond]

Any other's thoughts?

what about the droid x2?

Couple of my friends have the x2 and I have heard nothing but problems from them. I personally would stay away from it. Phone freezes, consistent lag, etc.

You can get a 4g device and put it in CDMA (3g) only mode, but the problem is when the 4g towers go down like two weeks ago all data is cut off. We were lucky enough to still receive 3g yesterday, but for me it was spotty and only worked sometimes. With a straight 3g device you wouldn't go through these problems.

To be honest you could probably find a used 3g device for a reasonable price if you don't want to use your upgrade yet.

 

[baldybill]

I do like the thought behind this. Right now my 3G phone - Original Droid - is on it's last legs and is one of my primary internet sources. So, I'm alittle leary of getting a 4G phone if that means the I won't get access to 3G in the 3G area I'm in.

Dinc2 is probably your best choice. Its root able, but honestly just get a GNex, RAZR, or Rezound. You can turn LTE off to save on battery if you don't live in a 4g area. You are buying the phone for 2 years, I'm sure in 2 years all 3g places will have 4g.

The outages will not last forever. The network was bogged down with all the new activations. Verizon will have it sorted out. At least I hope so.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using DroidForums

 

[Art Vandelay]

You can get a 4g device and put it in CDMA (3g) only mode, but the problem is when the 4g towers go down like two weeks ago all data is cut off. We were lucky enough to still receive 3g yesterday, but for me it was spotty and only worked sometimes. With a straight 3g device you wouldn't go through these problems.

Nit saying you are wrong, but I do t understand how this works. Aren't the 3g and 4g radios to desperate radios? So if 4g is down you should have no problem with 3g if you are set to 3g only.

Now I have a nexus and Verizon claims that yesterdays outage was 4g only, but there were times when I had no service at all while phone was in cdma.

So are you sure no 3g only phones weren't affected by this "4g" outage?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using DroidForums

 

[TheOldFart]

I upgraded from my 2 year old Droid to the Inc2 last week at BB. They have it for free with a 2 year contract, either new or upgrade. So far no problems at all. Boots in about 10 seconds, plenty of memory and fast for what I use it for. I'm even starting to like Sense. I picked it over the Droid 3, but either would be a good choice IMO.

 

[dezymond]

Nit saying you are wrong, but I do t understand how this works. Aren't the 3g and 4g radios to desperate radios? So if 4g is down you should have no problem with 3g if you are set to 3g only.

Now I have a nexus and Verizon claims that yesterdays outage was 4g only, but there were times when I had no service at all while phone was in cdma.

So are you sure no 3g only phones weren't affected by this "4g" outage?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using DroidForums

Indeed they are two separate radios but sometimes both can go down, like it happened two weeks ago. I switched to CDMA mode (3g) and was still unable to pull any data service. Same case with yesterday as well, it wasn't a real solid connection, yet my friends on their D3, x2, x, all had solid connections. Yeah they had the laugh yesterday, but with 4g back up I'm the one laughing now

edit: the rest of my family with their 4s had data as well.
I'm not 100% sure but I'm pretty sure there are two different towers. The 3g phones connect to the towers that have been up while the newer phones connect to the new 4g/3g towers. Again I'm not 100% sure, but based on what's been happening that's the only conclusion I can draw.

 

[baldybill]

Hmm, think I'll get the Gnex and keep the OG Droid for a backup...when the 4G goes down for any length, just call and change the phone number to the OG and use the 3G connection until it's fixed.

 

[dikcheese]

Clearly get iphone 4s

 

[cubuff]

Hmm, think I'll get the Gnex and keep the OG Droid for a backup...when the 4G goes down for any length, just call and change the phone number to the OG and use the 3G connection until it's fixed.

A heads up if you switch back in forth from a 4g phone to something else most of the time you will need a new 4g sim card to re activate the 4g phone. That's what I was told from vz and is also my experience. I however have not had any 3g interruptions in my 3g only area.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using DroidForums

 

[kodiak799]

The best 4G phones are also going to be the best 3G phone (because they are the latest and greatest). But if you want to save a few bucks, you can get one of the 3G phones (a number of good ones mentioned). Even on 3G, I'd want better hardware and ICS. I'd still make a choice between the Rezound, Nexus and RAZR (in that order, probably, for me). Just depends on your use/function because, as a power user, nothing less than dual-core with 1gig ram will suffice.

Or, as mentioned, get a cheap used 3G phone and sit on your upgrade because newer and better phones are coming out almost every month.