Switching services and new phone

[GadgetRick]

So, I've been with Verizon forever (since they were Bell Atlantic). For various reasons, which I won't go into, my wife and I are switching away from Verizon to T-Mobile. No, this isn't a thread to bash Verizon or T-Mobile, rather, a thread looking for advice on a new phone.

I've narrowed my decision down to either the S4 or the LG G2. On paper--and in reviews--the G2 seems at least a little better than the S4. My main concerns (however) are:

-no MicroSD support
-LG's history of (not) upgrading the software on their phones

I'm looking for various reasons to go with the G@ (or not) or the S4 (or not).

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[mountainbikermark]

Are you going to need the SD or is it a "better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it" scenario?
I can't speak for other carriers but Verizon seems to support Samsung more than LG. The source could of course be LG never sends anything to test, like HTC, but I'm not sure.
The G2 seems to be a winner in more than the specs department from what I've read. I don't think you'll go wrong either way because the G2 didn't come out of the box needing any updates to fix bugs and/or obvious flaws so if it doesn't get a lot of support it won't hurt as much as say HTC models. Android 4.3 is sorely lacking developer support still do there's that also, especially with 4.4 coming sooner rather than later. Developers are still scrambling to get 4.3 ready in too many cases. Perhaps they're waiting for 4.4 since it's not far off but I'm not in a hurry for 4.3 on my device.
Hope that helps.

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Beast Mode (Notetoo)

 

[GadgetRick]

Are you going to need the SD or is it a "better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it" scenario?
I can't speak for other carriers but Verizon seems to support Samsung more than LG. The source could of course be LG never sends anything to test, like HTC, but I'm not sure.
The G2 seems to be a winner in more than the specs department from what I've read. I don't think you'll go wrong either way because the G2 didn't come out of the box needing any updates to fix bugs and/or obvious flaws so if it doesn't get a lot of support it won't hurt as much as say HTC models. Android 4.3 is sorely lacking developer support still do there's that also, especially with 4.4 coming sooner rather than later. Developers are still scrambling to get 4.3 ready in too many cases. Perhaps they're waiting for 4.4 since it's not far off but I'm not in a hurry for 4.3 on my device.
Hope that helps.

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Beast Mode (Notetoo)

Thanks.

I do use the MicroSD card in my current card. Do I need the space? No. But it's nice to be able to save things on it and I can move it to a different phone (done it before) if/when needed.

I don't know who T-Mobile supports better but I've got to guess it's Samsung since they're so popular at the moment. But, as long as important things get updated on the G2, I'd be happy. I know nobody has a crystal ball to know whether updates will come for the G2 or not though.

 

[mountainbikermark]

If support is going to be a big factor LG needs to prove they heard the costumers before their sales increase because of support.
I'm like you in that I was weighing carriers and phones. I KNEW anything HTC was out (fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me and I feel for them twice but not a 3rd time).
I went month to month on Verizon to stall the decision a bit more and went Samsung on the phone even though in the past they were notorious for abandoning their devices as well. Time proved they listened. Hopefully LG did also.

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[GadgetRick]

If support is going to be a big factor LG needs to prove they heard the costumers before their sales increase because of support.
I'm like you in that I was weighing carriers and phones. I KNEW anything HTC was out (fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me and I feel for them twice but not a 3rd time).
I went month to month on Verizon to stall the decision a bit more and went Samsung on the phone even though in the past they were notorious for abandoning their devices as well. Time proved they listened. Hopefully LG did also.

Support Our Troops!!!
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Beast Mode (Notetoo)

I'm only somewhat concerned about LG upgrading the phone. T-Mobile has their thing where you can upgrade every 6 months. Yes, you lose a little value but, I'm guessing I get more than 6 months of good use out of a phone. And I usually work with phones for 2ish years before upgrading. So, unless something is just plain broken on the LG, I should be fine.

I have to say I'm leaning towards the G2 after reading more and more about it. I don't think I'd be unhappy with the S4 but the G2 seems pretty kick-ass. I do with they had MicroSD support but it's not a life or death feature for me.

But I also know the S4 is a popular phone so support should be good for it. I don't really buy accessories so I'm not concerned about that but, obviously, I'd expect there to be way more accessories for the S4 than the G2.

 

[jamjr74]

I have the S4 and love it, of course when i got it the G2 wasnt out yet! You really cant go wrong with either device!!! I would think that the S4 would be supported longer and the sd card is a nice feature! The G2 does have better specs though. Tough choice for sure! I do believe Tmobile has a 14 day return window as well, so if you are unhappy with the device you choose you can always swap out for the other one!!!!

 

[GadgetRick]

I do believe Tmobile has a 14 day return window as well, so if you are unhappy with the device you choose you can always swap out for the other one!!!!

Yes, they do have a 14 day return window. I plan to beat on whatever I get in that time to make sure it's good for me.

 

[mountainbikermark]

I'm only somewhat concerned about LG upgrading the phone. T-Mobile has their thing where you can upgrade every 6 months. Yes, you lose a little value but, I'm guessing I get more than 6 months of good use out of a phone. And I usually work with phones for 2ish years before upgrading. So, unless something is just plain broken on the LG, I should be fine.

I have to say I'm leaning towards the G2 after reading more and more about it. I don't think I'd be unhappy with the S4 but the G2 seems pretty kick-ass. I do with they had MicroSD support but it's not a life or death feature for me.

But I also know the S4 is a popular phone so support should be good for it. I don't really buy accessories so I'm not concerned about that but, obviously, I'd expect there to be way more accessories for the S4 than the G2.

If the G2 has a regular micro usb charge port you can get an otg (on the go) cable for a couple of bucks and transfer media on and off to an SD card as far as I know. That's how I so easily live with my 16gb Nexus7 tablet.

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[GadgetRick]

If the G2 has a regular micro usb charge port you can get an otg (on the go) cable for a couple of bucks and transfer media on and off to an SD card as far as I know. That's how I so easily live with my 16gb Nexus7 tablet.

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Beast Mode (Notetoo)

Ah, excellent point. Thanks.

 

[jackiescivic]

I previously was not a fan of LG phones because we had a ton of the Optimus G's returned due to problems. We have not sold a G2 yet, but of the 10 Optimus G Pro's we have sold, not one has come back nor have we heard of anyone with issues, which makes me think LG has fixed some of their previous problems.

 

[GadgetRick]

Ok, so I went and did the switch last night. Went with the G2. So far I'm loving it. Certainly tons faster than my Droid Razr (obviously) and doesn't have a ton of annoying bloatware (ok, it has some but not as bad as I expected). The interface is surprisingly nice and I actually kinda like the buttons on the back. With the ability to double tap the screen to wake/put it to sleep, I rarely use the power button on the back.

So far the T-Mobile 4G speeds aren't slower than what I was getting with Verizon. I haven't compared actual bandwidth but I don't notice any differences in speed. The G2 does seem faster but I think that's more a function of the phone than the network.

As far as plans, the T-Mobile plan blows Verizon away. I was grandfathered in the unlimited data with Verizon but had 1400 minutes shared between myself and my wife and 500 texts (also shared). With T-Mobile, it's unlimited everything. They also include 2.5Gb of data for hotspot per line (with unlimited data). So we now have 5Gb of unlimited data to use between the two of us for hotspot. After that, you don't get an overage, it just throttles down the speed. That will be more than enough for us as I don't need hotspot all that often.

So we'll see how this goes. It's been almost 20 years since I had a different cell phone provider.