Looking for smartphone suggestions (Verizon android)

[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.