hankbear

Done. I just cannot imagine. Thoughts and prayers to the family and everyone affected.

I think the biggest difference is the screen size, not resolution. I am spoiled by the larger screens, so when I went from a Note 2 to an S4 for the higher resolution, I kept missing the larger screen. Going from a Note 3 to the G3, I can appreciate the higher resolution, but since the screen size is so nearly the same, I don't miss the Note 3. Also, since the processor is a slight bump and RAM and storage are the same, there is a slight performance increase that I can appreciate. I also like the knock pattern unlock. As far as the screen, in general, I find that it is not bad in sunlight and extremely clear with the higher resolution, although it's probably not such a big difference from the M8. I do find that the 3GB of RAM is very nice, and I'm loving the camera and the laser focusing, along with OIS, which is definitely better than the Note 3.. The M8 has only 2GB of RAM and its camera is a bit more controversial, from what I've read, so those could be negatives, depending. I know people who have the M8 and love it, so I doubt you could go wrong with either one. I hope my experience over the last couple of weeks with the G3 (and so the new hasn't yet worn off!) has been helpful.

FYI, it does support 128 GB microSD cards. I have the Sandisk one in mine, and it works well, other than the nonsense of not being able to write to it from most apps.

Can either of you tell me how the screen compares to other phones you've had? In particular, I've heard that sunlight visibility is not the greatest. Do you guys have any real-world experience to share? Thanks!

+1 for SwiftKey. And, it has the comma on the main keyboard.

I've considered it, but it's not as fast as the Note 3 and doesn't have as much RAM. Given how badly burned I was by the EVO 4G LTE, it's hard for me to take a chance on an HTC, again, anyway. And, even though I have big hands, I wonder if the Max would be too big, even for me. At some point, I do want to put my hands on one and see the screen in person, though. I think what I really want is a Note 4! LOL! However, I would love to have a 4K screen that is good in direct sunlight. I doubt the Note 4 will change to some other technology than AMOLED, which appears to be the limiting factor with sunlight visibility. Although, to be fair to Samsung, they do keep improving. The Note 3 screen *is* better than the S4 or the Note 2 in sunlight. I haven't had a chance to see an S5 in sunlight, though.

I have a co-worker who has one on Sprint. He loves it, and if the screen were a bit larger I would consider it, but I am so used to the Note 2 and Note 3 screens, now. The thought of having less bloatware is appealing, though.

Of course! Or, if I can't stand the Note 3 screen in sunlight any longer, I might go for something else. Mostly, it depends on the screen. It has to be really close to 5.5" and high resolution, along with better sunlight visibility in the car. I also need a microsd card slot. I love the Note 3, and it's the best performing phone I've ever had, but not being tri-band and not having the best visibility in the sun are two strikes against it. I've looked at the reviews of the LG G3, but it's getting bad marks for the screen quality, so.... P.S. What's your current daily driver?

Note 3.

I had this problem at my work location for a while, but it has improved. At the time, I wondered about the cause. Was it simply more users with LTE-capable phones and a backhaul issue? Was it a tower problem? Was it the down-tilt changed? Hard to be sure, and the improvement has been very gradual, but there has been improvement. Today, instead of .04 Mbps download speed, I am getting .63 Mbps at -108 dBm, which is not all that strong. A year ago, I was getting 26.34 Mbps down at this same location. Most places, speed is much better than .63 Mbps, though. One weird thing about my office is that, according to the NV progress maps, there are multiple upgraded towers around me, all within a very short distance. I do have very good voice service with 1X 800, since there is one tower with 800 close by.

Worked for me!

I wish I could like this post a thousand times! We just have to hold out for Sprint to continue to improve.

Yes, it says "or if" at the end of that quote, so Sprint has the right to limit throughput to prevent degradation.

I don't like AT&T, either, but I have to admit, they have finally overcome the "iPhone effect" on their network. My work phone always has a signal, and, much of the time, better data speeds than Sprint in the areas I most commonly am in. Thankfully, even though all the upgrades seem to have been completed some time ago here in the Atlanta area and speeds on LTE had actually gotten worse, that appears to be changing. I've noticed in the last few weeks that my data is better at work and a few other places where it had gotten pretty slow over the last six months.

Happy Birthday, Robert!!

This is the one I got for both the Note 3s in our household: http://mimeusa.com/product/galaxy-note-3-feather-glass-tempered-glass-screen-protector/ Any oily fingerprints wipe right away on my shirt, and the feel is even better than the original glass screen. I honestly can't think of a single negative thing to say, other than the cost. I tend to prefer anti-glare/anti-fingerprint protectors, even though I dislike the loss of clarity. This one is the best of both, since the fingerprints can be wiped away so easily. I've had mine since the first of December, and it still looks flawless.

Titanium Back, for me, is the primary reason. I would hate to lose all that progress in Angry Birds!! (Or in any particular non-online game I happen to be playing when I get a new phone.)

Anyone in the Norcross area suddenly having LTE speed issues? I'm in Technology Park, and had great LTE speeds for quite a while, easily 10+ Mbps down and 2+ Mbps up. Suddenly, they are awful. Strangely enough, switching to 3G is much faster. Right now, 4G is not as bad as it has been at 2.32 Mbps down and .46 Mbps up, while 3G is .5 Mbps down and .72 Mbps up, which is slower than previous tests of 3G. I would assume capacity, but when 4G was bad, 3G was good. Of course, I'm probably connecting to completely different towers at different times, given the number of them that are live with 4G near me, now. Perhaps I should call Sprint, but I'm not sure how to convey the issue to them. And, once I go a short distance away, speed improves a lot. Edit: Must be capacity on a particular tower. I'm getting 796 ms ping, .02 Mbps down, and .05 Mbps up on 4G, right now, during lunch time.

I have to agree. I've coped by highlighting the text to read it when I need to, but different colors would be better!

As a very technical person who is called upon to help make buying decisions by friends, family, co-workers, and acquaintances all the time, I tend to see the perspective of the less technical person a lot. Even those, like my husband, who are very technical in their own way about the products and services they support, defer to me on certain subjects. I believe we've become overly complex in such a way that it takes far too long to gather enough information, determine the appropriate decision factors, and weigh them all to come up with the best choice. Reliance on things like Consumer Reports, review sites, and people like me are a natural consequence. Having too many choices with too many options for any product or service can make sifting through it all too time-consuming. I have a harder and harder time making some purchases because of this. Even in an area I know fair amount about, I had a lot of factors to consider in buying my latest cell phone: micro sd slot, removeable battery, RAM, ROM, screen size, processor, physical construction, tri-band, rf performance, etc. The average consumer has no hope of learning enough about every product they purchase to be certain they have picked the "best" product.

This has been my experience, also, from casual comparisons. With a Note 2 side-by-side with my Note 3, I tend to hold onto LTE longer, and it seems like it is downloading faster (I've not done any speed tests to verify that). However, the download speed appearing faster could be due to the phone just being faster, overall. Definitely the best phone I've ever had!

Good to know, thanks!

Well, I finally decided to bite the bullet and get a Note 3, since it seems like all the issues have been worked out. I know it's not tri-band, but I'll have a new phone within a year, more than likely, and will be able to get one, then. I must say I had missed the larger screen of my Note 2, and the screen on the Note 3 is beautiful. Unfortunately, it is overcast, so far here, today, so I don't yet know how it will look in sunlight. From what I've seen, though, it is definitely better than the Note 2 or S4. It is taking forever to get everything back to how it was, before, though. And, I had a problem with LTE not working. I don't get why it is so hard to switch devices on their site. It seems like I always have to chat or call, and can't use the online process, myself. Once I realized LTE wasn't working, it was very late. So, when I chatted, this morning, they eventually had me call in and the rep was extremely helpful, although it was kind of obvious, and I should have thought to do this: he had me swap the SIM. I do have two questions for anyone who might have answers, though. First, is it a Bad Thing™ that the SIM cards are not matched up with the phones they originally were shipped with? And, why would the online page not work to swap in a Note 3 for an S4? I understand going from a feature phone to a smartphone, or a blackberry to an android, requiring a rep to do the swap, but from an S4 to a Note 3 seems perfectly straightforward. Thanks!

Not sure why I missed this when it was first posted! Maybe others have, too.

A bit of anecdotal evidence: Last night, I was at a friend's house barely north of downtown Atlanta. He had a Verizon LTE Jetpack and was getting 45 ms pings, ~12Mbps down, and ~4Mbps up. My S4 got 40ms pings, 19.11Mbps down, and 3.20Mbps up. I was impressed! I would assume (although I can't double-check the sponsor maps from here at work due to where they are stored on Google's network and the draconian blocking here) that the area I was in is pretty much fully rolled out. It's nice to see the realization of Network Vision out performing Verizon in the real world.