Off-Contract Verizon phone to replace Gnex

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MrGlobe

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As the title states, I'm looking to upgrade from a Gnex finally. I'm going to be buying the phone off-contract. I will be keeping the phone for 1-2 years most likely. I'm fine with any screen size, timely updates aren't an issue, a good camera is a plus (but Ive survived with the terrible Gnex camera for 2 years) battery life better than the Gnex should also be standard fare among contenders now. I'm ok with used, new, refurb, swappa, eBay, etc. Looking to spend $200-500ish.

Some options Ive found:

Droid DNA used - $200
LG G2 new - $450

Also looked at the Note 3, One, and S4.

Anyone have comments or suggestions? TIA
 
You can get a used S4 for around $350-375 in good shape. Seems to be a nice balance of what you're looking for at a nice price, but other than that, I'd probably get the LG G2 if you can live with the buttons in the back. Note 3 has similar specs but costs a bit more.

After having used the Gnex for over a year, the battery life on the S4 makes it look silly. A used Note 2 might be a good option also depending on how cheap you can get it. The battery life on that is fantastic also.
 
Yeah the S4 looked like a good option used, I just wasnt sure if a new LG G2 would be well worth the ~$100 price difference.

I really want to step up to a 1080p screen, so I have more or less dismissed the Note 2.

I will have to look into the buttons on the back thing, I hadn't noticed that with the G2, but I just started looking at them recently.

Ideally I was hoping another Atrix or other phone would come out with a lapdock. Unlimited 4g + full laptop keyboard and screen sounded like the best outcome. Unfortunately I haven't seen any newish phones with lapdocks
 
450 said:
Have you considered an iPhone 5?
Click to expand...

I had an iPhone 4 before my Gnex and really liked it. The camera was awesome, great battery life and smooth UI for months on end.

That said, I dont think i was impressed with the iphone 5 as much. I use a BT keyboard and mouse on my Gnex quite a bit and like the idea of a 5"+ 1080p screen vs the iPhones screen. certainly a phone I should look into more, thanks for the suggestion.
 
d50man said:
Iphone4s or samsung s3 for $250 on craigslist allday here.
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The 4s isn't 4G though, is it? And I think the S3 has a 720p screen and specs that are not a ton better than the Gnex if I remember right.

The S4 certainly seems like a step up, and def worth another $100 over an S3

Thanks for the input though, and that would be a great price point to be able to hit if I can get the performance bump I'm hoping for.
 
A bit of a older device but atva good price, have you considered the Nexus 5?
 
My wife loves her Droid DNA. It is super fast with a great screen. Much better versus my Galaxy S3. Only 16 gb internal storage, not sure if that is important to you or not. Should be all right if you use cloud storage.
 
biggles said:
My wife loves her Droid DNA. It is super fast with a great screen. Much better versus my Galaxy S3. Only 16 gb internal storage, not sure if that is important to you or not. Should be all right if you use cloud storage.
Click to expand...

The Droid DNA doesn't have the battery life that the S4, G2, or Note 3 has. The HTC One is better, but it's more expensive.
 
So which phone for $500 or under would you guys pick? HTC One, Note 3 (used), LG G2, iPhone 5 (used), Bionic + Laptop Dock + extra cash (used), DNA (used), Any other 4G Verizon phone off-contract, new or used, hopefully 5"+ 1080p screen.

Either way, the phone will most likely be used with a BT keyboard and mouse unless it has a lapdock.
 
I had a gnexus and went with the LG G2 for my upgrade..I basically got paid $200 to upgrade my nexus to a LG G2 from the cyber monday deal. It's an awesome phone. I havnt missed my nexus at all. I also didnt want the size of the Note 3. Thing is gigantic.
 
MrGlobe said:
So which phone for $500 or under would you guys pick? HTC One, Note 3 (used), LG G2, iPhone 5 (used), Bionic + Laptop Dock + extra cash (used), DNA (used), Any other 4G Verizon phone off-contract, new or used, hopefully 5"+ 1080p screen.

Either way, the phone will most likely be used with a BT keyboard and mouse unless it has a lapdock.
Click to expand...

If you plan to use the phone like a desktop like that, then I would recommend either the Note 2 or the Note 3. Here's why. Here's a Note 2 demo which shows you more things you can do. The GS4 can do the same stuff too. I'm sure other newer Android phones could do similar things, but I know Samsung phones are better about handling USB OTG and USB peripherals than most other phones, so they have a slight edge, IMO.

Definitely don't do a Bionic or Razr with Lapdock; they failed for a reason (horribly slow and low quality lapdock materials/features). I think Moto just got a tad ahead of themselves with those because it seemed like the hardware was just not quite ready for tasks like that.
 
I didnt even think about the USB capabilities of the Note 3. It would certainly be the biggest one to carry but might also be the easiest to work on. I agree that the Bionic would be a step back. The lapdock form factor looks perfect to me, but the hardware really leaves a lot to be desired. I held a G2 and I get what people are saying about the buttons, weird spot but idk if it would bother me or not
 
Can anyone comment on the difference in screen real estate between 720p and 1080p? If I look at the same webpage on 2 different phones, will I be able to see more of the page on the 1080p smartphone? Or does android scaling/zooming negate the real estate increase and instead just increase the sharpness of the displays?
 
I went with the Moto X when they ran it at $350 around BF. Maybe not as big of an upgrade over the GNex as a G2 or some of the other new superphones, but I really really like it. Same screen size as GNex, but significantly smaller in all dimensions. Sealed battery and locked bootloader are kind of a bummer, but I was kind of over ROMs on the GNex. Much better radio than the GNex, ships with 4.4, decent SoC, decent battery life (better than GNex) and the active display is cool

Its apparently $400 off contract brand new these days (down from $500 normally when I bought), and you can customize it if you order online off contract if you're into that sort of thing.... I didn't think I was, but I got mine in navy blue w/ orange highlights and really like it.
 
Don't rule out the Note 2 since street price is about half of the Note 3 and, especially, if you can find one that's bootloader unlocked which means free WIFI tether with unlimited data account. Another big plus is it's an officially supported Cyanogenmod phone so it continues to get OS updates even after the carrier stops. Case in point, 2010 Galaxy S is running Cyanogenmod 10.1.3 (Jelly Bean 4.2.2), very snappy and stable I might add, and CM 11 (Kit Kat 4.4.2) is available. Just upgraded the Note 2 from carrier provided JB 4.3 to CM 11 KK 4.4.2 and I'm liking it even more. Graphics performance increased from bronze to silver at high settings on Anomaly 2 benchmark with the updates. As for 720p vs 1080p, it doesn't make a difference at normal viewing distance of 12" or greater. Note 2 also works with the Smart Dock to transform it into a little computer with USB keyboard/mouse, HDMI out, USB storage and charging. With everything said along with 2GB DRAM, precision pen and beautiful AMOLED display it's still one of the top three phones IMHO.
 
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mi7chy said:
Don't rule out the Note 2

As for 720p vs 1080p
Click to expand...

Def like the smart dock idea of the note series. Along with the pen and HDMI out, they could be very we'll customized for getting work done.

I can't find any articles that address the screen real estate difference between 720p and 1080p in smart phones. On a computer it is super obvious how much difference there is in what you see on the screen between the 2 resolutions .
 
I've got a note 2 on t mobile and I have no desire to upgrade it at all. Amazing battery life and the screen is good, yeah it's only 720p but its hard to go to a smaller screen
 
My wife got a Note 2 earlier this year and loves it. I don't use it much but I've definitely gotten used to the screen size.

If resolution is a potential stumbling block, I suggest checking one out in person. I can personally tell the pixels apart. Not at a glance, but if I'm reading or whatever I can just barely see them.
 
I've had a gnex, an LG g2 for 4 months and as of two weeks ago a note 3. (LG G2 screen got smashed). I'd go for the $450 LG G2.
 
DF-1 said:
I've had a gnex, an LG g2 for 4 months and as of two weeks ago a note 3. (LG G2 screen got smashed). I'd go for the $450 LG G2.
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Thanks for the first hand experience. What have your opinions been regarding the G2 vs the Note 3? I think the Note 3 is a little too big for me to carry daily but I am still considering it
 
MrGlobe said:
Can anyone comment on the difference in screen real estate between 720p and 1080p? If I look at the same webpage on 2 different phones, will I be able to see more of the page on the 1080p smartphone? Or does android scaling/zooming negate the real estate increase and instead just increase the sharpness of the displays?
Click to expand...

The real estate won't change much if any. All you'll get is denser PPI on displayed objects. Haven't played around with it much myself but if you're rooted you can change the PPI via the build.prop to slightly affect real estate but it requires a reboot to take affect and it can alter the layout of your UI with the OS thinking your phone is a tablet. I can see the benefit though to have it mirror Windows behavior when, for example, you have the Note 3 outputting to a TV in 1080p so that not all the icons are so huge. Suggest doing a Google search for these keywords to better understand "android ppi build.prop screen real estate".
 
kirbyrj said:
A used Note 2 might be a good option also depending on how cheap you can get it. The battery life on that is fantastic also.
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That is what i'll be going with. I am in the same boat as OP (looking for a off-contract replacement). The Note 2 will still be a nice enough upgrade for me from the S3. I've been finding some good deals on Ebay for great condition Note 2s for around $300 shipped.
 
MrGlobe said:
Thanks for the first hand experience. What have your opinions been regarding the G2 vs the Note 3? I think the Note 3 is a little too big for me to carry daily but I am still considering it
Click to expand...

Both clearly have their pluses and minuses.

LG G2 has a better screen.
S-pen isn't as revolutionary as it seems, its still cool though.
UI is mostly preference.

built in mail app for LG G2 (not gmail, just regular email) vs the note is worse.

size: LG g2 is better for me personally.
I think I like the software buttons more.

I got more battery life on the G2.
performance: they're both great. Note 3 might have a slight edge.
Note 3 has more RAM but I think more of it is used up with samsungs software and UI than LGs.
The note 3 icons seem too big, haven't found a way to shrink them on the homepage. Too much room is just wasted on the homepage.

LG G2 was more customizable.
G2 had better speakers, could also play FLAC and other high rate files.
note 3 is louder, but worse sound quality.

I couldn't always press the right button I wanted to on the back of the LG G2 even after 3 months of using it.

G2 seemed to have developers that put more thought into the device. like when you plug it in for charging, or a 3.5 jack. it just feels... smarter.

When the screen broke it noticed that it wasn't working correctly and told me I can use the back buttons to answer calls, ignore them and hang up. It knew the LCD was damaged.

those are just some of the random thoughts.

overall I liked the g2 better, its better in the hand. with the note 3 its sometimes hard to get to the physical back button. I thought having the whole device used would be better, as opposed to having that "chin" on the G2. but now I see the use for it. It makes it more comfortable.

I think I should've re-bought the phone instead of this note 3 (which was much more expensive).

$450 for a new one is a steal compared to other high end phones. Get it, you'll be glad.
 
I picked up the LG G2 on Monday. Here are my impressions. It replaces a Galaxy S3.

Screen is noticeably larger and looks awesome.

Much faster vs the S3 in everything. Samsung phones lag with Touchwiz, no surprise there.

Still adjusting to volume and power buttons on the back. I had lots of accidental presses with the traditional button on the side so this is no worse.

Like the fact that the headphone jack is on bottom instead of top. Makes it easier to plug audio cable into car stereo for music.

I got the white model to avoid the fingerprinting of the black plastic.

Battery rocks. I could go two days on this thing. With the S3 I usually had to charge throughout the day.

Highly recommended phone based on my experience thus far. I was skeptical of LG but the positive user reviews helped me to decide.
 
kirbyrj said:
If you're not going to use the developer options, why spend $100 more?
Click to expand...
16 gb is $400
32 gb is $450
(you are not paying a premium for the developer edition)

VZW Gnex had 32 gb of internal storage. Like I said....Dev edition lines up best with GNex
 
I have had my G2 for about a month now, and absolutely love it.
I hardly ever use the back buttons with knock on and the massive real estate on screen
 
mi7chy said:
The real estate won't change much if any.
Click to expand...

Very good info. I do a lot of work on spreadsheets and webpages in landscape mode with a BT KB/M and I was hoping upgrading to a 1080p screen would have allowed me to see more cells and more of a webpage at one time.
 
I was able to compare my Gnex to a S4 side-by-side over the weekend. Pulled up this website as well as a few others I am familiar with. The S4's screen allowed you to see 2-3 forum threads more at the bottom of the screen than then Gnex. With the gnex, you also couldn't quite as easily read the smaller text like username or date/time. While it was obvious the S4 had a larger screen and a much sharper screen, it definitely did not show as much additional real estate as the huge pixel difference could suggest. I would estimate the S4 screen showed maybe 10% more of the bottom of the webpage, which seemed more to do with physical screen size and less to do with screen resolution.
 
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