Looking for smartphone suggestions (Verizon android)

[hurley842002]

I've got an upgrade available, and I'm thinking about reworking my plan anyway. I currently have an HTC DNA, which is an awesome phone and is still in like new condition. The only reason I'm wanting to upgrade, is to get my wife a new phone (either my DNA or sell it and buy her a different phone).

If I'm going to upgrade I want it to be a better phone than I currently have. This is where I'm reaching out to you fine folks. Which of the latest and greatest Verizon smart phones would blow my DNA away?

I'm currently looking at the HTC One, Motorola Droid Maxx, and possibly the newest Samsung. My usage mainly includes web browsing, photographs, and music. Battery life is a plus which is why I've considered the maxx, but I'm a huge HTC fan.

I've briefly considered the IPhone 5 as the IPhones are compatible with many more external items like my truck stereo, but I'm just too invested in the Google play and drive, to switch to iPhone.

I'm looking to start shopping this afternoon, so any input is greatly appreciated!

[OtterbatHellcat]

Hurley, there was a thread not too long ago, that had a bunch of info about that.

*goes to look*

[blacklabel]

Do you have unlimited data?

If I wasn't worried about losing my unlimited data I'd probably go with the Galaxy S4.

[hurley842002]

Hurley, there was a thread not too long ago, that had a bunch of info about that.

*goes to look*

Now that you mention it, I think I remember that thread, I'll have to review it.

I'm really hoping some of our more tech savvy individuals can give me some insight on the new phones versus my DNA.

[OtterbatHellcat]

I can't find it....smarter folks are abound, though.

Hope you get something cool, and enjoy it. I have a galaxy 3, but I'm not tech savvy, and can't even really utilize all of it's capabilities.

[twitchyfinger]

Hurley, there was a thread not too long ago, that had a bunch of info about that.

You mean this one? http://www.ar-15.co/threads/114901-OK-techies-unlocked-jail-broke-phones?highlight=iphone

*goes to look*

[OtterbatHellcat]

Why, YES.... thank you Mr. TwitchyFinger... :)

That is exactly the one I was thinking of.

[hurley842002]

Thanks for the link twitchy, that thread mainly talked about jailbreaking and pre paid phones lol.

[kwando]

If you plan on selling, get an apple. Buy a new iPhone 5s for $199 as an upgrade and you can prob sell it for $500+ to get an android. Androids do not hold vaue as good an apple devices. If you don't want to go thought the hassle of selling It, just get a S4

[hurley842002]

If you plan on selling, get an apple. Buy a new iPhone 5s for $199 as an upgrade and you can prob sell it for $500+ to get an android. Androids do not hold vaue as good an apple devices. If you don't want to go thought the hassle of selling It, just get a S4

Maybe my first paragraph was confusing. Whatever phone I end up getting will be kept and used by me.

My DNA will then be either given to my wife, or sold to go toward another phone for her, should she not want the DNA.

[Dr_Fwd]

Galaxy note 2! Love it, battery live is freakin awesome.

[Bailey Guns]

I don't use my phone for a whole lot more than just a phone...but I really like it because of the incredible battery life. Droid Razr Maxx HD. I *might* need to charge it once every 5 or 6 days and I never turn it off.

[twitchyfinger]

Galaxy note 2! Love it, battery live is freakin awesome.
Big ditto! That's what I upgraded to from an iphone 4s. The note 2's are $250 at tge verizon stores but can be bought from best buy for a $100 less. Was told verizon employees are buying them from best buy as verizon wouldn't match the price.

[Wulf202]

note 3 release in early october, should trump the s4.

Between the maxx and and the One, get the one.

From the GF who works with phones.

[asmo]

S4 for the win. One of my major requirements is a removable microsd slot.

[Gman]

I've been extremely happy with my Galaxy S3. I'd go for the S4.

[patrick0685]

i enjoy my S4

[hurley842002]

Same here. I upgraded to a ZeroLemon 9000ma batter and can go 3 days between charges. Plus once you get used to thr big screen you'll never go back.

Galaxy Note II + Tapatalk 2

A 9000ma battery sounds very appealing...

[EvilRhino]

I really like the S4. GF has the Iphone 4 and it's pretty user friendly, but I don't like the fact you can't add memory, change batteries, etc. Now my old commando feels like a matchbox in my hand. I bought a topish of the line laptop 3 years ago and the S4 has the same specs in the palm of your hand. I only use about 300mb of data a month with regular browsing and a few times using Iheartradio or Pandora. Most days if I'm in a good coverage area, I get home with about 80% of charge left. If it's searching for coverage it drains battery, but thats all phones.

[twitchyfinger]

Have to agree with the S4 votes for you hurley think you would like it better. Unless you like the larger screen of the note 2 the S4 is the way and is almost what I bought but preferred the bigger screen.

Oh and you can get the same zerolemon battery and case for the S4 in a 7300ma battery. Great stuff have the same 9300ma for my note 2 also.

[hurley842002]

Have to agree with the S4 votes for you hurley think you would like it better. Unless you like the larger screen of the note 2 the S4 is the way and is almost what I bought but preferred the bigger screen.

Oh and you can get the same zerolemon battery and case for the S4 in a 7300ma battery. Great stuff have the same 9300ma for my note 2 also.

Thanks a lot for the info!

You guys are kind of changing the playing field on me with the zerolemon options. Neither the One or the Maxx have removable batteries. I'm going to look at the Samsung options, and if they are as good or better performance wise as my DNA, we may have a winner.

One question on the batteries, do they come with new covers and will it get rid of the horrible factory S4 color? Lol

[twitchyfinger]

Yes they cone in white or black on amazon and are a grippy rubbery type case. Oh and I was mistaken the battery is a 7500ma.

http://www.amazon.com/warranty-ZeroLemon-Protection-Compatible-International/dp/B00CXZI3DQ/ref=sr_1_22?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1369502130&sr=1-22&keywords=ZeroLemon+Samsung+Galaxy+S4

[hurley842002]

Yes they cone in white or black on amazon and are a grippy rubbery type case. Oh and I was mistaken the battery is a 7500ma.

Nice! That shiny bluish color of the S4 is a big turn off for me lol. You guys may have made up my mind for me.

[blacklabel]

Here's the Phonescoop comparison between the DNA and the S4.

http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/compare.php?p=4066,3957

[hurley842002]

Here's the Phonescoop comparison between the DNA and the S4.

http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/compare.php?p=4066,3957

Thanks a ton for the link, was looking for this site but couldn't remember the name.

I think my decision may be made. Performance wise the S4 and DNA are very similar in factory configuration. Where the S4 begins to pull away is:

Removable battery
SD card slot
13mp camera vs 8 in the DNA

I think the only downside I can find to the S4 is the 9.6 usable memory vs the 11.2 of the DNA, of course this is a non issue with the SD slot.

[Chad4000]

I just got the Samsung note 2. This thing is sick

[hurley842002]

I did mess with the note 2 a little bit. The screen size is quite appealing, I just don't know how well the larger device would be on jogs.

[brutal]

Late to the party, but another vote for the GS4. Just got mine a few weeks ago to repalce a wonky Razr M and it's hands and shoulders above.

The pluses for me were;
Micro-SD slot (I already had a 64G Sandisk)
Replaceable (upgradeable) battery
Bad taste for the Moto stuff goes away

As to the camera, I think they all pretty much take shitty pics, this one is no better.

I haven't found vailidity in the complaints about the lesser signal quality v.s. the Moto.

The one thing I don't like is the hard home button. I suppose I could setup a gesture to do the same thing the Moto did for getting to Google Now. Google Now doesn't work as well as it did on the Moto. I do miss the Smart Actions app bundled with the Moto. I haven't bothered to setup the other 3rd party one whose name escapes me, but is the most popular.

[ChadAmberg]

I've got a new GS4 and... I don't like it. Specs on it are great, but using it... well, every time I pick up the damn thing the volume changes, since its basically impossible NOT to change the volume on the side buttons every time you hold the phone, and the screen is SO sensitive, it's constantly "clicking" things I don't want.

[brutal]

I've got a new GS4 and... I don't like it. Specs on it are great, but using it... well, every time I pick up the damn thing the volume changes, since its basically impossible NOT to change the volume on the side buttons every time you hold the phone, and the screen is SO sensitive, it's constantly "clicking" things I don't want.

Add an Otterbox with screen protector.

I'll probably get an Seidio Obex (submersible waterproof) sometime soon when they get off perpetual backorder.

I do agree that the placement of the buttons is awkward. The power and vol should both be on the right.

[Chad4000]

I did mess with the note 2 a little bit. The screen size is quite appealing, I just don't know how well the larger device would be on jogs.

Yeah I was worried about that too but it's actually fine. Haven't had problems in sweats jeans etc.

[hurley842002]

Well I figure I should update this thread.

As good as the huge battery life of those Zerolemon batteries sounded, I really couldn't get into the look or feel of the S4, it just felt cheap compared to my DNA, and I couldn't get past the flashy/shiny finish.

I ended up going with the Motorola Droid Maxx. It felt just as sturdy as my DNA, and is very aesthetically pleasing.

The main reason I chose the maxx was battery life, this thing is a beast! It may not be as good as the zerolemon offerings, but at 3500 mAh, I can run it hard for 8+ hours and still be around 60%.

It's got 32GB of memory which is plenty for me. It's only a dual core processor compared to the quad on my DNA, so I can feel a little bit of lag in comparison, but it's still fast, and I think that may help with battery life.

Overall I'm quite pleased after the first 24 hours. I really wish Samsung would rethink the flashy look, and go with a cleaner more basic one, because I believe they put out an awesome phone otherwise.

Just thought I'd share.

[sniper7]

I've got the MAXX HD and love it. crazy battery life even with how much I am on there.

[hurley842002]

I've got the MAXX HD and love it. crazy battery life even with how much I am on there.

Agree! Almost twice the battery life of some phones.

[Jer]

I'm late to the party & didn't have a chance to point out that ZeroLemon makes a 3000mAh battery that is the same size as the factory battery. You can get two of these as well as a rapid charger for $20 shipped from Amazon. With these and the stock battery I NEVER have to worry about finding a power source ever again. I carry a charged battery and use it as much as I want and then when it's almost dead I throw the fully charged one back in and swap the one off the charger to throw back in my pocket while the dead one charges. I've had this setup on a few phones and LOVE it. Not being beholden to power sources is an incredibly liberating feature and our last phone was a sealed battery. I swore I would never go that route and now having done it (HTC Evo LTE) I will never do it again. Ever. I love being able to swap out batteries whenever and just hammering my battery with use w/o a single care about battery life. I love HTC phones too and after two in a row (Evo LTE & Evo 4G before that) the One just wasn't in the same league as the SGS4. Sure, the One 'feels' fancier but it really isn't. I'll take a plastic housing (lighter) with better performance any day. That's the iPhone plan of attack and I've never been one to be distracted by shiny things. My first Android phone was a Motorola and I've had a couple and I refuse to own another one until they make some drastic changes in a lot of the things they do. They do a lot of little things unique from other manufacturers that make it a non-starter for me when Samsung & HTC have such good offerings. I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever you go with but that's my take even though it seems too late.

[hurley842002]

I'm late to the party & didn't have a chance to point out that ZeroLemon makes a 3000mAh battery that is the same size as the factory battery. You can get two of these as well as a rapid charger for $20 shipped from Amazon. With these and the stock battery I NEVER have to worry about finding a power source ever again. I carry a charged battery and use it as much as I want and then when it's almost dead I throw the fully charged one back in and swap the one off the charger to throw back in my pocket while the dead one charges. I've had this setup on a few phones and LOVE it. Not being beholden to power sources is an incredibly liberating feature and our last phone was a sealed battery. I swore I would never go that route and now having done it (HTC Evo LTE) I will never do it again. Ever. I love being able to swap out batteries whenever and just hammering my battery with use w/o a single care about battery life. I love HTC phones too and after two in a row (Evo LTE & Evo 4G before that) the One just wasn't in the same league as the SGS4. Sure, the One 'feels' fancier but it really isn't. I'll take a plastic housing (lighter) with better performance any day. That's the iPhone plan of attack and I've never been one to be distracted by shiny things. My first Android phone was a Motorola and I've had a couple and I refuse to own another one until they make some drastic changes in a lot of the things they do. They do a lot of little things unique from other manufacturers that make it a non-starter for me when Samsung & HTC have such good offerings. I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever you go with but that's my take even though it seems too late.

It's not completely too late (I have 14 days to return the phone for a small restocking fee), and I appreciate your input.

I guess I treat my phones like I treat cars. I'd take a car that will run a 1/4 mile a few minutes slower, that is more visually appealing to me, over a faster car that I can't visually get into.

[Jer]

It's not completely too late (I have 14 days to return the phone for a small restocking fee), and I appreciate your input.

I guess I treat my phones like I treat cars. I'd take a car that will run a 1/4 mile a few minutes slower, that is more visually appealing to me, over a faster car that I can't visually get into.
It's a car though, not a phone. Nobody will see you in your phone so who cares? Function is more important than form on a phone and I personally prefer the looks of the SGS4 over the HTC One anyway (button locations of the HTC One is god awful IMO). To me looks of a phone these days is overrated because when you get down to it they basically all look the same. So from that standpoint function is WAY more important than looks. I wouldn't want to be that much of a slave to fashion to where I'd take the One over a SGS4 just because of the look/feel of the device. To me, quad-core, changeable batteries, expandable memory, better camera, better software & all the other things the SGS4 comes with far outweighs the One. Like I said, I was also coming off of two HTC phones so I wanted to like the One better than the 4. The 4 is just a better phone no matter how you slice it. Samsung also is quicker with updates and as a result I should have JB 4.3 any day now.

[brutal]

I'm late to the party & didn't have a chance to point out that ZeroLemon makes a 3000mAh battery that is the same size as the factory battery. You can get two of these as well as a rapid charger for $20 shipped from Amazon. With these and the stock battery I NEVER have to worry about finding a power source ever again. I carry a charged battery and use it as much as I want and then when it's almost dead I throw the fully charged one back in and swap the one off the charger to throw back in my pocket while the dead one charges. I've had this setup on a few phones and LOVE it. Not being beholden to power sources is an incredibly liberating feature and our last phone was a sealed battery. I swore I would never go that route and now having done it (HTC Evo LTE) I will never do it again. Ever. I love being able to swap out batteries whenever and just hammering my battery with use w/o a single care about battery life. I love HTC phones too and after two in a row (Evo LTE & Evo 4G before that) the One just wasn't in the same league as the SGS4. Sure, the One 'feels' fancier but it really isn't. I'll take a plastic housing (lighter) with better performance any day. That's the iPhone plan of attack and I've never been one to be distracted by shiny things. My first Android phone was a Motorola and I've had a couple and I refuse to own another one until they make some drastic changes in a lot of the things they do. They do a lot of little things unique from other manufacturers that make it a non-starter for me when Samsung & HTC have such good offerings. I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever you go with but that's my take even though it seems too late.

I'm tempted but the reviews on Amazon are pretty critical of the bulge the battery creates in the GS4 phone back. I don't use mine so heavily that I can't make it through the day and I carry a Lenmar battery pack kit in case I need an unexpected boost for it or my MiFi.

[Jer]

I'm tempted but the reviews on Amazon are pretty critical of the bulge the battery creates in the GS4 phone back. I don't use mine so heavily that I can't make it through the day and I carry a Lenmar battery pack kit in case I need an unexpected boost for it or my MiFi.

There's no bulge with the 3000mAh battery. I use a Seidio Surface case and the way those fit if there was I wouldn't be able to use it. Works just fine and I also highly recommend that case. Fantastic. I had portable batteries too but they're such a PITA to actually use while recharging plus you have to carry BOTH items in the same pocket if you're mobile. Those days are over for me as it's a bandaid fix compared to the real solution: a phone with user changeable battery.

[brutal]

There's no bulge with the 3000mAh battery. I use a Seidio Surface case and the way those fit if there was I wouldn't be able to use it. Works just fine and I also highly recommend that case. Fantastic. I had portable batteries too but they're such a PITA to actually use while recharging plus you have to carry BOTH items in the same pocket if you're mobile. Those days are over for me as it's a bandaid fix compared to the real solution: a phone with user changeable battery.

I have an Otterbox as a stopgap until I get a Seidio Obex. For $20 I might just have to give it a try.

[Jer]

I have an Otterbox as a stopgap until I get a Seidio Obex. For $20 I might just have to give it a try.
I hated my Otterbox Commuter and it pains me to say that as much as I like supporting local companies especially ones that I have ties that go back to the 90's with. The Seidio is better in every way. I opted for the surface because the Obex was too much like the Otterbox as far as the things I didn't like. The Surface with the kickstand is the cat's ass!

[hurley842002]

It's a car though, not a phone. Nobody will see you in your phone so who cares? Function is more important than form on a phone and I personally prefer the looks of the SGS4 over the HTC One anyway (button locations of the HTC One is god awful IMO). To me looks of a phone these days is overrated because when you get down to it they basically all look the same. So from that standpoint function is WAY more important than looks. I wouldn't want to be that much of a slave to fashion to where I'd take the One over a SGS4 just because of the look/feel of the device. To me, quad-core, changeable batteries, expandable memory, better camera, better software & all the other things the SGS4 comes with far outweighs the One. Like I said, I was also coming off of two HTC phones so I wanted to like the One better than the 4. The 4 is just a better phone no matter how you slice it. Samsung also is quicker with updates and as a result I should have JB 4.3 any day now.

I can certainly understand if aesthetics in a phone isn't a priority for you, for me however, it is, and Samsung failed horribly.

I went from a quad core processor in my DNA to a dual core in my new Motorola, and with the exception of some very slight lag, I can't tell a difference. Downloads on this phone are actually faster, and I think the dual core is actually helping my battery life.

Like I said, I'm giving it a go and if I end up not wanting to keep it before 14 days is up, I can get something else.

[hurley842002]

Hi wanted to bring this thread back from the dead. I've had the Motorola DROID Maxx for about two weeks now, and have decided to keep it.

This thing is amazing! After weighing my specific needs and requirements out of a phone, this one just made sense.

On paper it does not come out on top in some areas, but for my needs it certainly comes out on top. The Motorola X8 computing system, or whatever it is they call it, paired with the 3,500 mAh battery make this thing a beast in the endurance field. It may not win sprints against a couple phones, but it WILL outlast them all in the long run (factory configs).

In the day and age where all but one manufacturer that I can think of, are producing phones with non removable batteries, I think Motorola hit a home run with the Maxx. If you are on the Verizon network and are considering an upgrade to your current phone, consider this an option.

[hurley842002]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/29/y5evygur.jpg

Battery life as of this posting, with a mix of app downloads, Web browsing, and tapatalk lol.

[brutal]

There's no bulge with the 3000mAh battery. I use a Seidio Surface case and the way those fit if there was I wouldn't be able to use it. Works just fine and I also highly recommend that case. Fantastic. I had portable batteries too but they're such a PITA to actually use while recharging plus you have to carry BOTH items in the same pocket if you're mobile. Those days are over for me as it's a bandaid fix compared to the real solution: a phone with user changeable battery.

It does bulge a little and is measurably thicker than the stock battery. Certainly takes more effort to get the back on, but it does not impact the fit of either the Otterbox or the Obex. Great battery life so far and I'm still running through the conditioning cycles. I've left caffeine activated all day and all evening with heavy use just to run them down.

It will be interesting to see what the results are the next time I travel as that's when it gets the heaviest use. Based on one factor alone - survival at the Tanner all day - is period enough that it spanks the last phone.

sent from my GS4 via tapatalk 4