Trying to make a final decision

[treyinga]

Hey all,

I have spent a few hours trying to decide what phone to purchase. I can only afford this every two years so I want to make sure that I am happy. A quick background, I got my droid X a little less than two years ago and when I first got it, I loved it and swore to never even look at an IPhone. Then about six months ago, they sent me a Gingerbread updated and my delight has gone. Add to that the fact that Siri started talking and I have been really miserable with this phone for the past six months. I know there are no guarantees, but I just thought I would mention what I have found on the top phones in my consideration and what I have found. Any information, experience, stories, etc you could share for this Verizon use would be great.
I am grandfathered in on the unlimited plan and I use my phone quite a bit. I am too much of a wuss to root and not sure I have the time to make that commitment (don't hate, just being honest)

1) I Phone 4s- I am aware that this is a droid forum and not trying to stir anything up. The truth is that if my Droid X had not become so sluggish and ridiculous, I would never even have thought about it. My wife is an avid apple use and I have had the advantage of seeing that Siri is kind of a novelty that wears out. I would have to buy all apple chargers and with any other phone, all my old chargers should work. In the plus column this phone is on every website top 5 list (cnet, pcmag, pcworld) and apples do not become obsolete after one year.

2) Galaxy Nexus- This is where I am leaning. I want 4G and it is. It has ICS which means it has the latest to start off with. It is a bit different on the feel, but I could get use to that i am sure. I can stream to a tv from netflix if wanted with hdmi cable. I can still tether with pda net for emergency situations.
Cons: Can not upgrade from 32 GB does not bother me, I don't have that much.
No light indicator for messages..that bugs me.
No hardware. I like my droid x buttons.
No direct file transfer. I read there is an app, but I gotsa to wonder why they did that.
Some complaints with reception.


3) Razzr Maxx - I hated to Razzr back in the flip phone day, but I liked the look and feel of this phone. The battery is kewl, but I am almost always where I can charge. 4G Still. Maybe a better screen.
Cons: No ICS yet, which means I am starting behind.
No removable battery.
I think I am buying into Moto Blurr being why I am ticked at my Droid X right now.

4) Rezound
Would not have considered until reading the posts and I am going to do a bit of research on this one as well.

Any added advice or experiences you can share would be great. I know many of you feel like all us newbies ask the same question, but I greatly appreciate the advice.

 

[JeffDenver]

Phone 4s- I am aware that this is a droid forum and not trying to stir anything up. The truth is that if my Droid X had not become so sluggish and ridiculous, I would never even have thought about it. My wife is an avid apple use and I have had the advantage of seeing that Siri is kind of a novelty that wears out. I would have to buy all apple chargers and with any other phone, all my old chargers should work. In the plus column this phone is on every website top 5 list (cnet, pcmag, pcworld) and apples do not become obsolete after one year.

The iPhone is an awesome phone if you can live with it's limitations (and a lot of people can) and have deep pockets. Apple stuff will be expensive and proprietary in general, and Apple is very bossy. But if you dont care much about customization and just need to do basic stuff like web browsing and e-mail (and you dont care about flash), and you can afford it, the iPhone really is a nice phone. It has one of the best cameras of any phone right now, a polished UI, a fast CPU, and a huge app store.

Galaxy Nexus- This is where I am leaning. I want 4G and it is. It has ICS which means it has the latest to start off with. It is a bit different on the feel, but I could get use to that i am sure. I can stream to a tv from netflix if wanted with hdmi cable. I can still tether with pda net for emergency situations.
Cons: Can not upgrade from 32 GB does not bother me, I don't have that much.
No light indicator for messages..that bugs me.
No hardware. I like my droid x buttons.
No direct file transfer. I read there is an app, but I gotsa to wonder why they did that.
Some complaints with reception.

This is a pure vanilla Android device, and that is no small thing IMO. ICS is not a big deal, since you will be able to get that on many devices shortly (even from older phones released last year). It is one of the few phones with built in NFC hardware. The display is AMOLED 720p and really great to look at. I like the curved glass on the front. This phone is the easiest to unlock and root.

The main thing I did not like about it was the lack of SD...as with the iPhone, you will be permanently limited to whatever capacity you initially buy (and you cant get more than 32 gigs right now). The software buttons are actually really cool looking, but they sometimes disappear and I found this annoying. The phone is more like a mini-tablet. Be warned that there have been many radio issues with this phone...not everyone has experienced them, but some people have had such a bad experienced they switched to a different phone.

Razzr Maxx - I hated to Razzr back in the flip phone day, but I liked the look and feel of this phone. The battery is kewl, but I am almost always where I can charge. 4G Still. Maybe a better screen.
Cons: No ICS yet, which means I am starting behind.
No removable battery.
I think I am buying into Moto Blurr being why I am ticked at my Droid X right now.

Ditto...I hated the old Razr too. But this one has nothing to do with that one. Only the name is the same. It has arguably the fastest CPU on Android for Verizon phones. Yes, it will get ICS. The massive battery life (and it really is massive) and thin profile are a fair trade for the non-removable battery IMO. The display is "only" qHD, but is still awesome compared to any non-720p phone out there, and it has Gorilla glass. It does have a great display, but the Rezound, Galaxy Nexus, and LG Spectrum have better displays IMO. It is probably the most durable of any of these phones.

I hate Motoblur too, but you can always install a custom launcher over it. You cannot "legally" unlock this phone, though it can be rooted anyway. It does have an SD slot and 64 gig SD cards have been confirmed to work with it. The main drawback for it IMO is the lack of an HD display, not the non-removable battery.

4) Rezound
Would not have considered until reading the posts and I am going to do a bit of research on this one as well.

I ended up getting this even though I initially wanted the Nexus. It is true 720p, and has the best pixel density of any phone (yes, better than even the iPhone's Retina display). It has both an SD slot and removable battery. 64 gig SD cards have been confirmed to work with it. It will be getting ICS officially and there are already ROMs for it. HTC allows you to legally unlock the bootloader. It comes with a pair of expensive earbuds...even if you dont want them, people are buying them off of eBay for $60+ right now, so you could sell them.

There are few downsides for this phone. It is thicker and heavier than all the others (though it is thinner and lighter than my Droid 1). The buttons are too flush to the case IMO. IMO, this is the best of the phones listed here.

Which one you pick will really depend on whats important to you. None of these are the best at everything. I would not be too focused on ICS...you can always upgrade your software later, but you will never be able to upgrade the hardware without buying a new phone.

 

[dezymond]

1. the 4s is a great phone, but it just doesn't have the freedom that Android has. If you're considering this phone compared to Android devices, you need to ask yourself what you mostly use your phone for and whether which one will fit you best.

2. There is a multicolor indicator at the bottom of the screen. Go look up lightflow and that'll give you an idea what I can see with my phone without actually turning on the screen. It's a subtle feature, but super helpful, it's something I really missed from my OG droid when I upgraded to the Inc. As for direct file transfer, to PC or another phone or what? The only difference it is on a PC is that it goes through as an MTP. As for radio issues, I personally have none and I got mine on launch day. I can't speak for others however.

3. The Razr is a fine phone, just not for me. I don't think you'd have to worry about a removable battery with the size of that battery. Not to mention their software to help with battery life works really well from what I've heard.

4. The Rezound is what I would've gone with personally had I not chose the Nexus. The camera blows away any other on the market imo, and the screen is comparable to the Nexus (some say better). I didn't choose it because the Nexus just blew me away when I had it in my hands.

The Razr and Rezound will get ICS eventually, when? Nobody really knows. I opted for the Nexus for many reasons, though it being vanilla ICS was a huge selling point. There's a ROM on the Rezound that has vanilla ICS, not sure of the Razr. As for sluggishness, the new lineup of Android phones are not slow at all. They're all pretty darn fast and I haven't noticed any slow downs like older android devices, though I haven't had more than 15 minutes with each device besides my Nexus. The Razr and Rezound are powerful phones and ICS should only make them better

 

[JohnnyS101]

Im going to keep this short. Go for the Razr Maxx, you had the X and the Razr is like that but better, you stilll have capcative buttons at the bottom and it has a very svelte profile. It has the best battery that can withstand 4gLTE, it also will come out with ICS so that will be a bonus. Apple is too bland, Galaxy Nexus is to locked up and Rezound is an HTC phone. You cant take out the battery but why, it has a huge 3300 mah battery

Sent from my DROID3 using DroidForums

 

[gthotie5]

How is the nexus locked up?

Sent from my GalaxyNexus using DroidForums

 

[dzone67]

Im going to keep this short. Go for the Razr Maxx, you had the X and the Razr is like that but better, you stilll have capcative buttons at the bottom and it has a very svelte profile. It has the best battery that can withstand 4gLTE, it also will come out with ICS so that will be a bonus. Apple is too bland, Galaxy Nexus is to locked up and Rezound is an HTC phone. You cant take out the battery but why, it has a huge 3300 mah battery

Sent from my DROID3 using DroidForums

What the......


Sent from a Rezound!

 

[gthotie5]

If you don't like to Customize or install ROMS then go with the RAZR Maxx.
It's pretty good out of the box.

Sent from my GalaxyNexus using DroidForums

 

[dezymond]

Im going to keep this short. Go for the Razr Maxx, you had the X and the Razr is like that but better, you stilll have capcative buttons at the bottom and it has a very svelte profile. It has the best battery that can withstand 4gLTE, it also will come out with ICS so that will be a bonus. Apple is too bland, Galaxy Nexus is to locked up and Rezound is an HTC phone. You cant take out the battery but why, it has a huge 3300 mah battery

Sent from my DROID3 using DroidForums

Out of all the devices on Verizon, the Nexus is the least "locked up"....

Honestly OP, our opinions can only sway you so much. We all use our phone differently so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Escobar]

The REZOUND will have ICS very soon. It'll be the first one to get an update, and it'll probably be a more refined version than the one the Nexus running. It's camera is magnificent even in low light, and the display is beautiful. No connection issues or dropped data. And despite its size it fits nicely in your hands. The headphones are like a $70 rebate. The beats audio is nice too. Micro sd storage, and it comes with a 16gb card. User accesible battery too. The only problem is battery life. It's bad, real bad.

Sent from my HTC REZOUND using DroidForums

 

[JSM9872]

...Honestly OP, our opinions can only sway you so much. We all use our phone differently so take it with a grain of salt.

This right here is the key. You will get so many differing opinions and reasoning that your head may begin to spin. The best thing to do is read some reviews and even more importantly you NEED to check them out in person. What "feels" good to you is just as (or more) important then what is "best."

 

[JeffDenver]

The only thing I'd worry about with the razr is replacing the battery after it dies for good. No one seems to know exactly how this will work. Presumably the warranty will replace them for you, but thats only one year normally.

Apple spells out how this works with their phones. But motorola has no explicit policy that I have seen. Even the verizon reps don't seem to know any specifics.

There are extended batteries available for both the Rezound and Nexus. They are bulky, but they increase the battery life to the same levels as the Maxx. The Rezound one is $60, but is on sale right now for $30.

 

[JeffDenver]

The only problem is battery life. It's bad, real bad.

That has not been my own experience. Mine was comparable to my droid 1.

 

[t35rk]

Hey all,

I have spent a few hours trying to decide what phone to purchase. I can only afford this every two years so I want to make sure that I am happy. A quick background, I got my droid X a little less than two years ago and when I first got it, I loved it and swore to never even look at an IPhone. Then about six months ago, they sent me a Gingerbread updated and my delight has gone. Add to that the fact that Siri started talking and I have been really miserable with this phone for the past six months. I know there are no guarantees, but I just thought I would mention what I have found on the top phones in my consideration and what I have found. Any information, experience, stories, etc you could share for this Verizon use would be great.

I would consider waiting it out for a few reasons.

1) New phones will be announced shortly, hopefully released with ICS out of the box.

2) Existing devices will be updated to ICS. You can see how the update performs, and you know from your X, not all updates are appreciated.

3) If you are happy with the ICS update on current devices, the price of them will be that much less by summer.

Sent from my ADR6300 using DroidForums

 

[JeffDenver]

I don't know of anything coming out in the near future on Verizon that is better than the top phones out right now.

 

[treyinga]

I am really appreciating the opinions. As has mentioned, this is a personal opinion, and they are all good phones. I think have eliminated the I phone 4s because in chargers alone, that is another $100 and it has no flash, and the others you can talk on the phone and surf at the same time. I want 4G.

To be honest, I so close to going with Razr Maxx, but my Droid X just scares me. I think when I bought my X I definitely made the best choice at the time for me. Then six months ago, the phone became my nemesis. So I now have this love/hate relationship with Motorola. Had my phone not gone through this, I probably would have easily waited six months for another phone. That was a great suggestion, but my phone reboots several times a day, freezes constantly and I have stripped almost every program.

I have been to the stores twice, and I am going again today. To be honest I had not given the Rezound much attention until reading posts, so I need to test it as well. I did not like HTC with the Incredible I had for a week or two, but that was my first Android ever, so I need to look.

It is not about finding the best phone, but the best phone for me. So I guess my priorities are:

Good phone reception
Fast Internet
Good Screen
Dependability
Not locking up
Texting
Camera (it took years to take a picture and send it on my Droid and I have a nine month old
Music (I have I tunes long story)
tethering when necessary
and I am sure other things that will come to me.

Thanks again for the advice and comments. No matter which phone I get, I will actively be reading this forum for ways to maximize the experience