Deciding between a few phones

[rk111600]

If any of you wouldn't mind sparing a few moments, could you give your opinion? Currently, I'm thinking about swapping my Galaxy S 3 on Sprint's site with either an HTC One, Nexus 5, or even the LG G2.  I'm just stuck between deciding which phone I should get.

 

With Sprint's new "Spark" and NV, it makes deciding even more difficult. As it stands, I really like my galaxy, but I really have fallen in love with the HTC One, ever since it was released, but since the spark hype and NV upgrades, I really want to benefit from Sprint's new spectrum.

 

What I like about my Galaxy is that it's a nice phone, I just feel it's not as powerful as I'd like, and I wish it had a slightly bigger battery. I generally use my phone for entertainment/texting, and every once in awhile, for calls. I'd say it does a great job at grabbing onto a weak signal (people in my family have IPhones and they don't seem to perform as well as mine).

 

My questions:

• Would a spark device be practical where I live? (I live in North East Ohio, or the Cleveland Market and it seems I'm really close to getting some LTE love.)
• Can the Nexus 5 roam off of verizon (I heard somewhere that it doesn't like verizon or doesn't support them)? I do roam quite often in one area (Mostly just for voice/text) 
• How well do these phones do with low signals?

If there's any other knowledge you may have on these phones, please do share, as I would love to know your opinion(s)/advice. Thanks!

[mrzood]

GS3 to HTCOne isn't going to be much of an upgrade and you will most likely see slightly worse RF performance with the One.  Tri-band or bust.  I had an HTC One for a day but decided against keeping it since it felt extremely fragile.  But, I don't like aluminum body portable devices since they scratch, gouge, and dent very easily compared to plastic body devices.

I have had nothing but a good experience with my Nexus 5 so far.  San Antonio did not seem to be affected by the CSFB/eCSFB issues so I've had seamless LTE, eHRPD, and 1x. Making calls can be a bit slow while the phone does the circuit switch, but other than that it's been great. Now I'm just waiting for the TD-LTE sites to start lighting up.

 

N5 will roam just fine on VZW CDMA, I've roamed on VZW with mine and had no issues while roaming. With that said, the Nexus 5 is a great RF performer with its 'envelope tracking' radio.

[rk111600]

GS3 to HTCOne isn't going to be much of an upgrade and you will most likely see slightly worse RF performance with the One.  Tri-band or bust.  I had an HTC One for a day but decided against keeping it since it felt extremely fragile.  But, I don't like aluminum body portable devices since they scratch, gouge, and dent very easily compared to plastic body devices.

 

I have had nothing but a good experience with my Nexus 5 so far.  San Antonio did not seem to be affected by the CSFB/eCSFB issues so I've had seamless LTE, eHRPD, and 1x. Making calls can be a bit slow while the phone does the circuit switch, but other than that it's been great. Now I'm just waiting for the TD-LTE sites to start lighting up.

 

N5 will roam just fine on VZW CDMA, I've roamed on VZW with mine and had no issues while roaming. With that said, the Nexus 5 is a great RF performer with its 'envelope tracking' radio.

Great to hear! Because of the optimizations, how would you rate the battery life? I mean, it can't be worse than my Galaxy S3, which I can usually get by with, but the G2's battery seems like a big improvement and it's almost tempting. Otherwise, I think I'd rather go with the Nexus than the G2 since I would like to go with the 'pure' android experience. Thanks for your post btw, as it definitely helped as you touched up on my main concern.

[WiWavelength]

 

• Can the Nexus 5 roam off of verizon (I heard somewhere that it doesn't like verizon or doesn't support them)? I do roam quite often in one area (Mostly just for voice/text) 

 

Your choice of current Sprint smartphone has no bearing on roaming capability.

 

AJ

[mrzood]

Great to hear! Because of the optimizations, how would you rate the battery life? I mean, it can't be worse than my Galaxy S3, which I can usually get by with, but the G2's battery seems like a big improvement and it's almost tempting. Otherwise, I think I'd rather go with the Nexus than the G2 since I would like to go with the 'pure' android experience. Thanks for your post btw, as it definitely helped as you touched up on my main concern.

Battery life, for my usage, is pretty good.  I've forgotten to plug it in at night quite a few times and make it through most of the next day before it's begging to be plugged in.

 

Edit:  Once you go pure Android you never go back

[koiulpoi]

You know, for all the hype the carriers, the manufacturers, and even some tech sites give for certain manufacturers over others for software/skin reasons ("Touchwiz is the best!"), I sure do hear a spectacular amount of good things about the Nexus 5.

 

Back on topic, even if you cannot take advantage of tri-band/spark at the moment, you almost certainly will within the next 20 months, before your next upgrade.

[rk111600]

Battery life, for my usage, is pretty good.  I've forgotten to plug it in at night quite a few times and make it through most of the next day before it's begging to be plugged in.

 

Edit:  Once you go pure Android you never go back

Lately, I've been wanting to make the transition. But, too many choices. The battery on the Nexus 5 is extremely tempting, but I don't want the ugly LG skin, and nor do I want to root the device. Nexus may be in my future!

 

You know, for all the hype the carriers, the manufacturers, and even some tech sites give for certain manufacturers over others for software/skin reasons ("Touchwiz is the best!"), I sure do hear a spectacular amount of good things about the Nexus 5.

 

Back on topic, even if you cannot take advantage of tri-band/spark at the moment, you almost certainly will within the next 20 months, before your next upgrade.

Indeed, from what I've been reading across many sites/comments, there is a lot of hype. Technically speaking, I have an upgrade due for August, but I was feeling an upgrade right now, heh.

[koiulpoi]

Lately, I've been wanting to make the transition. But, too many choices. The battery on the Nexus 5 is extremely tempting, but I don't want the ugly LG skin, and nor do I want to root the device. Nexus may be in my future!

 

Indeed, from what I've been reading across many sites/comments, there is a lot of hype. Technically speaking, I have an upgrade due for August, but I was feeling an upgrade right now, heh.

The Nexus 5 is $350 without a contract, you know. Sell your GS3 on eBay:

http://www.movaluate.com/samsung/galaxy-s-iii-sprint-blue

And it'll be more like $200.

[rk111600]

The Nexus 5 is $350 without a contract, you know. Sell your GS3 on eBay:

http://www.movaluate.com/samsung/galaxy-s-iii-sprint-blue

And it'll be more like $200.

I was most likely going to sell my device, as it is in excellent condition, only had it for a year, and it's been protected by a griffin survivor as well as an otterbox defender. If I was going to get anything non-nexus, it was going to be off of ebay, as I'm certainly not going to buy a device at full price.

 

Edit: That's a nice site, thanks for showing me that, might come in handy down the road as well.

[Nickel]

If you used a "pure android" phone you would probably hate it. There is no phone on the market that is "pure android."

 

Back on Topic, get a Tri band device, you'll be glad you did in a year or so. As for which one, it's about weighing pros and cons and determining what's important to you. I'm going to get the S4 Tri band edition because it's best for me, but you might have different priorities.

[blemas]

I am in the same boat in the same market. I am up for an upgrade and want to future proof my phone as much as possible but I am intrigued by the note 3 and at the same time I am put off by the fact that it is only single band device. Are the cool features worth the single band coverage? I do have to wonder how much of a detriment that will be in the CLE market though? I thought that I would be picking up an LTE signal by now in my hometowm of Cuyahoga Falls. I may just go with the GS4 & break the HTC buying trend of the last 4 years or show a little reatraint and patience by waiting for the S5!

[hescominsoon]

I am in the same boat in the same market. I am up for an upgrade and want to future proof my phone as much as possible but I am intrigued by the note 3 and at the same time I am put off by the fact that it is only single band device. Are the cool features worth the single band coverage? I do have to wonder how much of a detriment that will be in the CLE market though? I thought that I would be picking up an LTE signal by now in my hometowm of Cuyahoga Falls. I may just go with the GS4 & break the HTC buying trend of the last 4 years or show a little reatraint and patience by waiting for the S5!

i'm a big fan of the mega series.  You get tri band, the same size or bigger screen as the note 3..AND better battery life.  The mega has "only" a dual core SOC but unless you are really punishing on your phone..I've not noticed a difference.  I even game with the mega.  I would give it a try..don't buy the specifications...that leads to unneeded spending..try different phones and buy what you need.  

[irwinshere]

I am in the same boat in the same market. I am up for an upgrade and want to future proof my phone as much as possible but I am intrigued by the note 3 and at the same time I am put off by the fact that it is only single band device. Are the cool features worth the single band coverage? I do have to wonder how much of a detriment that will be in the CLE market though? I thought that I would be picking up an LTE signal by now in my hometowm of Cuyahoga Falls. I may just go with the GS4 & break the HTC buying trend of the last 4 years or show a little reatraint and patience by waiting for the S5!

I see where sensorly is showing strong lte in ravenna and some light signals in kent and part of stow. You may not be too far behind. At least we can hope so.

 

Jim, Sent from my Photon 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

 

 

[Mrick]

I am in the same boat in the same market. I am up for an upgrade and want to future proof my phone as much as possible but I am intrigued by the note 3 and at the same time I am put off by the fact that it is only single band device. Are the cool features worth the single band coverage? I do have to wonder how much of a detriment that will be in the CLE market though? I thought that I would be picking up an LTE signal by now in my hometowm of Cuyahoga Falls. I may just go with the GS4 & break the HTC buying trend of the last 4 years or show a little reatraint and patience by waiting for the S5!

I'm in the Stow/Kent area! Its coming! I've been mapping for about 2 months and when I started there was no signal in Ravenna or stow. But now I'm starting to see some LTE.

 

But phone wise I would go with the N5 or wait for the HTC one 2 or s5

 

I upgraded from the s3 to the N5 and I love the pure android. Its way faster than the s3 and the screen is way more crisp. I've also did a side by side comparison of the camera since they are both 8mp and the N5 is way better all around

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[irwinshere]

I'm in the Stow/Kent area! Its coming! I've been mapping for about 2 months and when I started there was no signal in Ravenna or stow. But now I'm starting to see some LTE. But phone wise I would go with the N5 or wait for the HTC one 2 or s5I upgraded from the s3 to the N5 and I love the pure android. Its way faster than the s3 and the screen is way more crisp. I've also did a side by side comparison of the camera since they are both 8mp and the N5 is way better all around Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Did you update to the new 4.4.2?

 

Jim, Sent from my Photon 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

 

 

[Mrick]

Did you update to the new 4.4.2?

 

Jim, Sent from my Photon 4G using Tapatalk 2

Yea I'm running 4.4.2 I'm not rooted or anything

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[irwinshere]

Yea I'm running 4.4.2 I'm not rooted or anything

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Sweet. You mapped lte to within a mile or so from my house. I might have to swap my old wimax for the n5 soon. Come on sprint!

 

Jim, Sent from my Photon 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

 

 

[Mrick]

Sweet. You mapped lte to within a mile or so from my house. I might have to swap my old wimax for the n5 soon. Come on sprint!

 

Jim, Sent from my Photon 4G using Tapatalk 2

Nice! I did notice that the LTE I got in Stow might have been from the Ravenna towers. I hope I'm wrong but it's getting closer

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[cletus]

LG G2 has a really, really superb camera. I have a Nexus 5 and it has a decent camera. A few pics I took yesterday: http://imgur.com/a/cSNLF. The LG G2 will also have much better battery life if that concerns you. Remember that the Nexus 5 has a non removable battery.

 

 

That being said I love my Nexus 5. It was a HUGE upgrade from my EVO3d.

[irwinshere]

Nice! I did notice that the LTE I got in Stow might have been from the Ravenna towers. I hope I'm wrong but it's getting closer

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Yeh, the lte by the high school looks like it was from up on the hill which could be a straight shot to the ravenna towers. Think they are on their way though.

 

Jim, Sent from my Photon 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

 

 

[Mrick]

Yeh, the lte by the high school looks like it was from up on the hill which could be a straight shot to the ravenna towers. Think they are on their way though.

 

Jim, Sent from my Photon 4G using Tapatalk 2

I'm still impressed with the reach of that tower. I hope they start moving west now! It would be nice to see Kent and Stow light up with some LTE

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[rk111600]

I finally decided to switch to the LG G2. Wanted the bigger battery and better camera. This was a hard decision to make, but I think I can be happy with the G2, now waiting for KitKat, come on LG! Thanks all once again for your replies.