Cell phone upgrade time - need some suggestions and recommendations

[Jack Burton]

Currently I have an iphone 4 and I'm eligible to upgrade. Who knows when the iphone 6 is coming out so I don't feel like waiting around for that. With that being said, I'm not sure if I feel like picking up an iphone 5 when the iphone 6 will probably come out months afterwards.

So, I'm looking for input on android devices such as the galaxy s5, note 3, etc... What do you like/what do you hate, battery life, etc...

Thanks.

 

[mustang_milly]

I'm going to save you the pain from switching to a different phone and hating it. Two years ago my buddy sold me on a android, the LG Thrill when it first came out. Awesome phone at first but started having issues such as texts wouldn't go through, phone calls were dropping, and navigation of the phone didn't seem as user friendly as the iPhone did.

My opinion is if you enjoy your iPhone and it has treated you well wait until September/October for the 6.

Not bashing android, I know people who love them and work well for them. I just love how the iPhone is easy for me to use compared to other phones.

 

[03 KB Sonic Blue]

I'm going to save you the pain from switching to a different phone and hating it. Two years ago my buddy sold me on a android, the LG Thrill when it first came out. Awesome phone at first but started having issues such as texts wouldn't go through, phone calls were dropping, and navigation of the phone didn't seem as user friendly as the iPhone did.

My opinion is if you enjoy your iPhone and it has treated you well wait until September/October for the 6.

Not bashing android, I know people who love them and work well for them. I just love how the iPhone is easy for me to use compared to other phones.

+1. I went from iPhone 4s to Galaxy s4 because wanted a bigger screen. Can't wait for iPhone 6 to come out. Galaxy started out nice but is buggy, battery life sucks now, close out all apps and still sucks battery down, random voicemails come through and phone didn't ring.

Come on iPhone 6 don't disappoint.

 

[CobraBob]

If you like your iPhone, definitely wait on the iPhone 6 coming soon. I know you really don't want to wait until September/October, but you might just end up wishing you DID wait. I've had both iPhones and Android phones. Both do what they're supposed to do, but in different ways. I've always preferred the ease of use the iPhone provides. And I've had zero issues with mine. I presently have an iPhone 5 and will surely be upgrading to the iPhone 6 when it is available.

 

[luke1333]

I have had every android phone you can think of. I currently own a note 3 and a G3. love the note 3 and g3 is growing on me. I would personally wait for the note 4 as i will sell one of my phones to clear funds for the note 4. G3 or note 3 last me through a day with 3 hours of screen on time even and i still have 30% left. I love the size of the note but it is a large phone for most people. I have heard mixed reviews on the S5. Great camera and screen but rest of phone is meh. Great source i spend my time on is xda forums they have lots of good info and rooting, roms and kernels if you do that kind of thing to your phone like me

 

[lobra97]

I went to check on an upgrade yesterday. My phone has been in perfect shape,bought a case first day I had it , no scratches etc. They're like "we'll give you $80 on trade in" lol. Its going to cost $200 out the door for an upgrade and then remainder of $600 broken up into my mthly bill. I just walked out...don't need one that bad. Mine still works I was just wondering what I'd be looking at for a new one. I'm too cheap

 

[HEMIHUNTER]

My work phone is a Casio GZ 1 not impressed with the Android System.
Personal is the 4s I'm waiting for the 6.

 

[luke1333]

My work phone is a Casio GZ 1 not impressed with the Android System.
Personal is the 4s I'm waiting for the 6.

cant compare a casio GZ that has 1 gb of ram and an 800 mhz processor and a 3.6 screen with 250 ppi to new phones like m8, s5, g3 that had quad cores with 2.3-2.5 ghz, 2 or 3 gb of ram, 5"-5.5" screen with 400-500 ppi with 1080p or 2k resoution. that is like comparing a 01 gt to a 2011 gt it is apples to oranges.

 

[BlueSnake01]

If you're an iPhone fan, stick with iPhone. Some convert but end up going back, rare when they stick to Android. I picked up the Galaxy S5 from an S3, somewhat improvement from the outside but the hardware, my god, its night and day. Android's are known for bad battery but this phone is something else. It blows my brothers 5S battery on a day usage. Having one if not the best camera from a smart phone, being water resistance, GREAT battery, VERY fast, its an almost perfect phone (except for the outside). There's also an ultra save battery option which can make the last 10% of your battery last for almost a day.

I been rooting ever since the Moto Droid first came out, so I'm pretty damn familiar with what Android can offer and its a big upgrade from where they first came out.

Almost 3 hours of usage on 4G only!

 

[luke1333]

If you're an iPhone fan, stick with iPhone. Some convert but end up going back, rare when they stick to Android. I picked up the Galaxy S5 from an S3, somewhat improvement from the outside but the hardware, my god, its night and day. Android's are known for bad battery but this phone is something else. It blows my brothers 5S battery on a day usage. Having one if not the best camera from a smart phone, being water resistance, GREAT battery, VERY fast, its an almost perfect phone (except for the outside). There's also an ultra save battery option which can make the last 10% of your battery last for almost a day.

I been rooting ever since the Moto Droid first came out, so I'm pretty damn familiar with what Android can offer and its a big upgrade from where they first came out.

Almost 3 hours of usage on 4G only!

agreed! and 3 hours of screen on time you mean?

 

[MovingZen]

For the guys who are saying 'my phone started out great but now sucks' do a factory reset on your phone and start over. Your phone is like a computer, and once you clutter it up with all kinds of shit it's going to slow down. What you've done with the phone is what's slowed it down.

Jack Burton -How much do you use the phone for stuff other than texting/phone calls? I have an S5 and I think it's a damn good phone. The only issues I have are - the waterproof cover for the usb port on the bottom doesn't stay clipped all the time and the auto brightness setting sucks.. it's way to dim in low light.
Other than that the phone is fine. I would consider myself a medium user. I get texts, push two email addresses, and have a few apps that run constantly and access the internet. I don't use all the little gadgets on the phone but I do leave Bluetooth and gps on all the time. It is rare for me to plug the phone in at night and have less than 50% battery left. I don't know that I've ever had the phone drop below 30% battery. In the last two years, the high end phones have taken an exponential jump in responsiveness. I've recently had a Defy, S3, S4, and now the S5. The S5 is a very good phone, but there is going to be a learning curve coming to Android.

 

[BlueSnake01]

agreed! and 3 hours of screen on time you mean?

Yes, exactly what I meant.

My older S3 would not last over 4 hours with a full charge with continuous usage. This one easily over did it with 10+ hours of standby.

 

[bigmoose]

I approached my phone upgrade from a service perspective. I had verizon paying $90/mo and wanted to cut that down. I resolved to going pre-paid. I ended up on cricket(AT&T) for $40/month. Of course I needed a new phone and without a subsidy I didn't want to pay $500+ for a phone. I ended up getting a Moto G from cricket for $50 no contract(after $50 rebate) which is dirt cheap. The Moto G is not high end but gets 2 days of battery life and and is a quad core. Compared to a standard 2 year contract on verizon i'm saving about $1400. That can buy some nice car parts.

 

[luke1333]

Yes, exactly what I meant.

My older S3 would not last over 4 hours with a full charge with continuous usage. This one easily over did it with 10+ hours of standby.

yup if you know how to set them up its crazy. at down time at work today im messing with my note 3 trying to get a kernel on it. running pacman rom on it and just need a more stable kernel before i switch back to it!

 

[Drive XR7]

+1 on reset to factory and reinstall everything. My current phone is a Galaxy S3 and even rooted with a custom rom, it would burn down the battery and I'd need to charge by 8pm. I recently wiped and installed a new custom rom (CleanROM 8), all the radios and firmwares, etc, and the battery will be at 65% by the time I go to bed. 4G of course burns the battery much quicker, so will be about 30% lower if I'm away from wifi for the majority of the day.

 

[TheShadow]

Any thoughts on Windows phone? Does anybody here even have one?

 

[venom_inc]

Every iPhone I have ever owned slowed down. It's not just an android thing...

If you like the iPhone, stick to the iPhone. If you want more personalization and better hardware, switch to android. I am currently waiting on upgrading my GS4 to a Note 4.

 

[luke1333]

Every iPhone I have ever owned slowed down. It's not just an android thing...

If you like the iPhone, stick to the iPhone. If you want more personalization and better hardware, switch to android. I am currently waiting on upgrading my GS4 to a Note 4.

Yes yes note 4 Ftw