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Phone under $400

EvilViking

EvilViking

I Drank All Your Beer
Joined
Mar 7, 2005
Messages
1,391
I'm about to switch to cricket wireless (gsm) in about 10 days and I'm looking for a phone to replace my galaxy s3 (non lte). Budget is $400 preferably less. After researching for several days I have came up with a long list, including but not limited to a used note 2, Oneplus One, Moto g lte, LG g2, Nexus 5. Is the Nexus 5 basically the best bang for buck? Maybe a used lg g2 for $300? I'm lost!

Am I missing any other phones that may be better?

Any help is appreciated


Important to me:
Must be android. Must be fast. (My s3 feels slow)
Excellent service
Battery life

Edit: anyone know where I can get a new lg g2 with warranty for a good price?
 
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Note II if you want the biggest display, SAMOLED for watching movies and precision pen. Performance is very good with 4.4.2 where I've been using as much as the Note 3. Otherwise, get the LG G2. They're both in the $200 range and have industry leading battery life.
 
I think moto g may be slower than your S3. moto g is a "budget" phone.
 
Going from a GS3 to a Note 2 because GS3 feels slow hardly makes any sense. It's the same processor! Let's figure out why you think GS3 is slow and see if we can salvage the phone a little while longer before you get another phone. My suspicion is on TouchWiz.

But if you must get another phone, Moto X and LG G2/Nexus 5 are definitely great budget phones.
 
CHANG 3D, there's a variation of Galaxy S3 with older dual-core Crapdragon. Note II Exynos 4412 quad-core is so much better in comparison. Nothing wrong with Touchwiz and it actually has useful smart features like Smart Stay, split screen multi-tasking, better virtual keyboard with number row on top, etc. compared to the relatively dumb HTC Sense.
 
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CHANG3D said:
Going from a GS3 to a Note 2 because GS3 feels slow hardly makes any sense. It's the same processor! Let's figure out why you think GS3 is slow and see if we can salvage the phone a little while longer before you get another phone. My suspicion is on TouchWiz.

But if you must get another phone, Moto X and LG G2/Nexus 5 are definitely great budget phones.
Click to expand...

It's an i9300? Dual core s3 without lte support.
 
EvilViking said:
It's an i9300? Dual core s3 without lte support.
Click to expand...
okay looks like the cricket version is slightly different, but still same generation hardware. Note 2 would not make much of a difference especially when you have 2 GB of RAM.

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/co...ng-Galaxy-S-III-Cricket/phones/7254,6330,7575

The Moto X and LG G2/Nexus 5 are using new generation hardware.

Unlike what mi7chy says, TouchWiz is the cause for a lot of issues with lag and response. Are you using a cusutom ROM? Also, what version of android are you using? Android before jelly bean (?) pretty much requires a timely factory reset in order to keep everything smooth.
 
Your S3 should not feel slow. Have you tried installing a custom ROM like CyanogenMod and see if that helps? Samsung's ROMs get to be really slow, as they stuff a bunch of stuff on older devices, like the new version of Touchwiz.
 
I have android 4.3 installed. All stock no custom roms. It says it's a sgh t999. I don't know about phones. I just use it
 
Are you willing to root your phone and install a custom rom? If not, Moto X.
 
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StragihtTalk is the same network as cricket (ATT) but cheaper.
 
CHANG3D said:
LOL... And the TouchWiz bashing begins again...

But seriously OP, I'd consider rooting and getting rid of TouchWiz before spending more money. And not to go off-topic, oface does bring up a point, not that it'll help your phone lag issues, but why Cricket?
Click to expand...


I asked in another post and other forum and people suggested cricket. I was someone under the impression straighttalk was tmobile. I currently have tmobile (unlocked s3 gsm) and hate the reception/ call service.
 
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Looks competitive. Cricket is actually AT&T owned and it sounds like they're bumping up the cap on the 2.5GB plan to 3GB for free.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2458261,00.asp

427823-how-do-the-new-cricket-plans-compare.jpg


There are a few other carriers using AT&T's network. Straight Talk offers 3GB of data with unlimited talk and text for $45, with discounts for prepaying more in advance. That looks like a better deal than Cricket, except that there have been many complaints about Straight Talk's customer service, and as a result I can't recommend them.
Click to expand...
 
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EvilViking said:
I asked in another post and other forum and people suggested cricket. I was someone under the impression straighttalk was tmobile. I currently have tmobile (unlocked s3 gsm) and hate the reception/ call service.
Click to expand...

straighttalk is a 3rd party, they offer sim cards (separately) on t-mobile or at&t

when you order, they might ask for your zipcode and give you only one option (instead of both), because it might be cheaper/cost-effective for you to be on t-mobile

you might have to change your zipcodes to get at&t to show up
 
Thanks guys. I think I'm going to end up getting a used lg g2 next week. Im going to look into straight talk vs cricket also
 
i picked up a note 3 on swappa for 425 there are a few listings for under 400$

if i did not want removable battery and memory i would go to the g2

that said i came from a s3 and the s3 is still a great phone especially if the bootloader is unlocked and you run asop based roms on it they have up to 4.4.2 on it and verizon supposedly is upping them to 4.4.2
 
Lunas said:
i picked up a note 3 on swappa for 425 there are a few listings for under 400$

if i did not want removable battery and memory i would go to the g2

that said i came from a s3 and the s3 is still a great phone especially if the bootloader is unlocked and you run asop based roms on it they have up to 4.4.2 on it and verizon supposedly is upping them to 4.4.2
Click to expand...

I think the main reason why I dislike my s3 is T-Mobiles service where I work (very dense populated area in socal), It lacks lte capability and it doesn't feel snappy. I want to multi task and have multiple internet tabs open while having no lag at all.
 
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