Deciding between phones

Hey all,

I'm currently still carrying a Droid Incredible and I think it's about time I upgrade. I have two different decisions that I'm currently looking in to. I'm on Verizon, and these are what I'm looking at:

~$100: Samsung S3 vs. Droid Mini
~$200: Samsung S4 vs. HTC One

I would prefer to spend in the 100 dollar range, but if there's a legitimate reason for getting one of the $200 phones instead I would be willing to wait and save a little more. My usage consists of a ridiculous amount of texting, mild email, and I take plenty of pictures with my phone but carry a DSLR on vacation. I also download and view plenty of PDFs, and waste a large amount of time on Reddit. If any of these phones has an issue with call clarity that would be a deal breaker for me.

Thanks!

Hmm tough choice, sounds like you actually don't do much with your cell. Go for a large screen honestly.

Oh, and I use it as a GPS religiously.

Personally, I'd go with a Mini or a One. I have the One, and I always loved the Mini (and its predecessor's) form factor.

Galaxy S3 imo. Unless you need the superior camera, the Droid Mini's screen is too small to be taken seriously.

I went by Best Buy yesterday and saw they were offering the Motorola Moto X for $99.99 on contract (for Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint):

Verizon Moto X

Amazon has both the Moto X (w/ Verizon and AT&T) and the LG G2 (w/ Verizon) for $99 on contract as well:

Verizon LG G2
Verizon Moto X

If you're looking for a REALLY good 1080p screen, fast quad-core and a huge battery, get the LG G2. If you want exotic but useful features, near-stock Android, and a good camera (after a firmware update), get the Moto X (I'd go for the Moto X personally, but I'm a sucker for stock).

$100 is chump change compared to the $2000+ you'll be spending over 2 years on Verizon's service, so get the more modern phone.

S4! The screen is amazing, though oversaturated. Very useful with the screen size.

personally id leave your carrier and go prepaid save some money on your plan and buy your phone outright

Bman123 said:

personally id leave your carrier and go prepaid save some money on your plan and buy your phone outright

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Carrier isn't my choice, I'm actually still on my family's phone plan and my dad gets a discount for the monthly rate from his job.

King of Heroes said:

I went by Best Buy yesterday and saw they were offering the Motorola Moto X for $99.99 on contract (for Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint):

Verizon Moto X

Amazon has both the Moto X (w/ Verizon and AT&T) and the LG G2 (w/ Verizon) for $99 on contract as well:

Verizon LG G2
Verizon Moto X

If you're looking for a REALLY good 1080p screen, fast quad-core and a huge battery, get the LG G2. If you want exotic but useful features, near-stock Android, and a good camera (after a firmware update), get the Moto X (I'd go for the Moto X personally, but I'm a sucker for stock).

Click to expand...

I hadn't even looked at the G2, but that seems like a very nice phone. One question that I've been curious about is why are Amazon's prices almost a solid $100 cheaper than the ones from Verizon? Am I signing some other contract of some kind that I might regret later?

entropism said:

Personally, I'd go with a Mini or a One. I have the One, and I always loved the Mini (and its predecessor's) form factor.

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Yeah, the incredible has a 4.3 in screen and I really like how that fits in my pocket, but from what I have read the quality of the screen on the mini itself is worse than most other phones so I'm not too sure about whether choosing that form factor over screen quality would be a good idea.

Black-Tom said:

I hadn't even looked at the G2, but that seems like a very nice phone. One question that I've been curious about is why are Amazon's prices almost a solid $100 cheaper than the ones from Verizon? Am I signing some other contract of some kind that I might regret later?

Click to expand...

Going through a third party usually means you have another contract with them as well. In most cases it's an issue of having a second ETF with them if you cancel service within the first 6(?) months. If you're sure you're going to stay on the family plan for some time to come this shouldn't bother you.

I went from a incredible 2 to the moto x and I have no regrets. Great phone, great reception and perfect for someone not used to the monstrosities that are phones today.

I didn't see anyone say it but no way is the S4 $200 still. I see the S4 for $140 on amazon now. Look around and buy from one of the online retailers or make best buy price match it.

S4 is worth it go for it. Nice phone. Great display, and has the newer features like the IR emitter etc. And they are the last company pretty much that doesn't screw you with a non removable battery.. Anyhow never pay tax or full MSRP for a phone. Go buy it online then walk into the store and make them set it up if you don't know how.

I like the ir blaster coming back to phones. Haven't used my normal remote in days except to set up a recording. I'm sure I could set up the Samsung app to mimic my dvr controls as well easy enough though.

rudy said:

I didn't see anyone say it but no way is the S4 $200 still. I see the S4 for $140 on amazon now. Look around and buy from one of the online retailers or make best buy price match it.

S4 is worth it go for it. Nice phone. Great display, and has the newer features like the IR emitter etc. And they are the last company pretty much that doesn't screw you with a non removable battery.. Anyhow never pay tax or full MSRP for a phone. Go buy it online then walk into the store and make them set it up if you don't know how.

Click to expand...

As far as I can tell the price may say 140 on amazon, but once you tack on the fees associated with verizon it's essentially the same as buying it from Verizon themselves

There are only 2 charges that are over the price of any price listed I have ever been aware of. 1 is the activation fee, this will be charged on any new phone. So that one is a wash unless you can get a guarantee that the Verizon store or anyone else will waive that fee. Yes under some cases or sales they will waive the activation fee, but make sure they promise / write it because I have seen shitty sales reps say it is waived then you still get charged, after all that you try to get it removed and no one has any proof.

The second charge is sales tax which will not amount to more than $20 in your case afaik. But any online retailer should be able to get you around any sales tax, if amazon does not work for you then goto newegg or someone else. Even if you want to save more money the S3 should be free online or very little money. Also have you considered the galaxy note 2 also abour $160 online.

So your worst case online scenario is that you save 25 bucks. And this is only if you live in a state with no sales tax and you are able to get the Verizon store to waive the activation fee. If anything else doesn't go through you are going to be saving more than $25 by going online.

Hey everyone, thanks for the input, I grabbed a LG G2 and I'm so happy with it!