ericdabbs

Tmobile is getting reprimanded for its advertising claims against AT&T that Tmobile offers 50% more bandwidth for HSPA but Tmobile doesn't account for ATT's LTE network. Also Tmobile is trying to claim that ATT's LTE network will slow down because of the congestion in the network. Finally some group stepping in and trying to calm down Tmobile's marketing department from being so brash and spewing a bunch of stuff against other carriers. http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/17/t-mobile-reprimanded-for-advertising-claims/

Just curious, if your company at work supports AT&T, why do you want to jump to Sprint again? I mean LTE coverage in ATT should be getting better in the next year or so since they are going to deploy additional LTE capacity at 700 MHz and not to mention that they might start deploying some small pockets of AWS LTE.

In your case, I would opt to get a triband LTE device. Only problem is that the Note 3 is not one of them. I suggest you wait to upgrade and if you want a phablet, keep your eye out for the HTC One Max. If you don't mind a 5 inch smartphone then take a look at the LG G2 or the Nexus 5. If you are adamant on Samsung and want to upgrade now, then you might to consider the Galaxy Mega 6.3 or GS4 mini. If you are not in a rush and can wait until Spring 2014, then wait for the GS5.

But isn't another big concern for you to even make the switch to Sprint is the device selection? I am sure you followed this thread since you were interested in the Note 3 and now knowing that the Sprint Note 3 being a single band LTE going to be an issue? I mean if you jumped to Sprint now you should be considering one of the triband LTE phones. My advice would be to wait until 2014 if you are unimpressed with the LG G2, Nexus 5, or maybe the HTC One Max when the GS5 or HTC One 2 comes out because by May 2014 Chicago will have a strong LTE 800/1900/2500 network.

This sounds very impressive. 11.5 hours of the screen ON consistently while loading a webpage every 15 seconds . I wonder if this is result of the GRAM that LG has touted about which they say saves processor power. This is even more of a reason to get the LG G2. I am curious if LG/Google will add this same battery saving functionality to the Nexus 5. If you are LG, why the hell would you do this if it works so well on the LG G2. I mean this could definitely get you more market share once more and more people throw out more reviews that boast the LG G2 battery life.

I see. I just wish they would just announce the screen resolution of the phone as what you would use in apps. I mean like who cares what the screen resolution is on the home screen.

While ATT model has multi LTE band support, ATT has only deployed LTE in a single band at 700 MHz thus far. But the good news for ATT customers is that ATT and Verizon finally completed its 700 MHz B block spectrum sale last week which gives ATT a nice additional 5x5 (10 MHz) contiguous chunk of 700 MHz to provide capacity relief going forward. This means that ATT can now deploy 10x10 LTE in a lot more markets and even large markets such as Los Angeles and Chicago to be on par with Verizon. This means that ATT customers will experience faster consistent speeds so he is not losing much by sticking with ATT.

So do you have much faith that the rumored 2300 maH battery in the Nexus 5 would be suffice?

I don't think its weird that tech blogs gets confused by this. Until the LG G2 and Moto X, all the Android smartphones besides the Nexus phone series have always had capacitive buttons outside of the screen and not onscreen buttons so the resolution was always listed as the full 1920x1080. Only if you want to get technical do you start subtracting the real estate from the onscreen buttons and the status bar(really?????) that you get that obscure resolution number of 1794x1080. I don't think its weird at all and to be honest, most folks would rather just have the specs list the resolution of the full screen regardless of the space taken up by the onscreen buttons and status bar.

The 32 GB edition will not be the starting storage size. If anything there will be a 16 GB and 32 GB version. Even the LG G2 only has a 16 GB and 32 GB versions but the US carriers are opting to sell the 32 GB version only because they know customers want the larger storage size if there is no SD card.

Not only that but you have to factor in not just the software but the hardware as well. The Nexus 7 (2012) and Nexus 7 (2013) is not an apples to apples comparison. The Nexus 7 (2012) had the Tegra 3 chip built on 40 nm die size with Cortex-A9 vs. Nexus 7 (2013) had Qualcomm S600 chip built on 28 nm LP (low power) die size with Cortex-A15 cortex. The 28nm chip is going to use a lot less power than the 40 nm chip. The Nexus 4 had a 2100 maH battery so I didn't follow the Nexus 4 that much but I assume it had good battery life.

All I say is don't knock it until you try it at an ATT or Verizon store. It sounds weird but after playing with it at an ATT and Verizon store, the back buttons aren't too bad. I know the reaction of most folks when they heard about the back buttons have balked but when you watch and read the tech reviews on youtube and tech blogs, most were fine with the back button placement if not happy that the change was made. I am pretty sure that the Nexus 5 will not be $249 off contract. At the very minimum it will be $299 off contract for a 8 GB version and $349 for a 16 GB version with no SD card support. For the LG G2 with 2 year contract you will be getting 32 GB model for $199. Verizon, ATT and Tmobile have only been selling the 32 GB model so I expect Sprint will follow.

Just as an update, it looks like the guy (garwynn) from XDA who was optimistic about having a source close to the situation that was told the Note 3 will be triband has caved. He now thinks that it will most likely be single band LTE. Looks like S4GRU - 1, garwynn - 0 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=45678737&postcount=78

Haha so analytical. Way to break down the details of the leaked video. Yeah for me the verdict is still out on how a 2300 maH battery will do on the Nexus 5 vs. a 3000 maH battery on the LG G2.

That is the million dollar question that we are all scratching our heads about. The Galaxy Mega 6.3 and GS4 Mini phones for Sprint were passed through the FCC with triband LTE capabilities. I outlined the other choices you have if you want a triband LTE so you just have to decide what matters most to you.

Some leaked specs of the Nexus 5. I find it strange that the Nexus 5 resolution is rumored to be 1794x1080 vs. the typical 1920x1080 resolution. http://www.knowyourmobile.com/google/google-nexus-5/21233/nexus-5-specs-confirmed-benchmark-snapdragon-800-1080p-display

I thought the LG G2 had stereo speakers since I saw two speaker grills on the international model but in reality, the LG G2 only has 1 speaker which is on the right speaker grill so it is not stereo. The left speaker grill just has a microphone. Kinda weird and deceiving how LG did this and made a speaker grill just for the microphone. So when Verizon just replaced the left speaker grill with a microphone, they didn't "lose" anything. Also in terms of Verizon butchering their LG G2 variant, I went to play with the Verizon variant at the store and I am not a fan of the way they changed their power and volume buttons. They tried to make the buttons like a volume rocker with 3 individual buttons and they made the buttons skinnier. I preferred the AT&T model which is the international model with the fatter and more flushed power and volume buttons. But Verizon did make one improvement with their LG G2 variant exclusive with the wireless charging cover enabled while the rest of the other carriers don't have wireless charging.

I am starting to think that Sprint is purposely delaying the LG G2 launch so that its LTE 2600 network is built out more before releasing it. We know the LTE 800 network won't be built any time soon so we can scratch that. However Sprint is trying to make some strong progress to complete up 5000+ LTE 2600 sites by the end of the year so I figure they are just trying to give the OEMs more time to build out the network as much as it can by late October. Just my 2 cents.

The key for Sprint is to start thinking about how to expand their backhaul not only just to meet the current 20 MHz TD-LTE carrier but to account for an additional 20 MHz TD-LTE carrier plus the residual 10 MHz Wimax carrier or TD-LTE carrier in the future. Sprint should be trying to max out their BRS spectrum which I can see them do two 20 MHz TD-LTE carriers and one 10 MHz TD-LTE carrier.

My point was not to emphasize that mobile data should be restricted at to be out and about for mobile use. Of course certain jobs rely on having mobile data reception all the time including inside homes like realtors who have to show people homes all day. But the difference is that when you are on the clock as a realtor you are still working on the job so that is ok. I am just talking about if you are just lounging around at your own home and you have a nice broadband connection, you should be using your home wifi. If mobile data issue is a major concern for use at home, the OP shouldn't be on Sprint then especially if the OP is not wiling to wait. Besides the OP said he was complaining about lack of LTE coverage indoors and not 3G coverage so he can't say that there is a lack of mobile data and that something is wrong with his phone. My point was if someone really likes a phone for its user experience (like the OP has stated) and his only main complaint was LTE reception indoors (which sucks but we know Sprint is working on bringing LTE800) but LTE coverage works great when he is out and about, its hard to advise someone not to look over that fact especially if he doesn't want to downsize to a smaller screen and loves the S-pen. The OP sounds like just an average user who is only interested in the user experience when looking for a phone and not the technical details of it.

Well HTC just needs to announce somehting to confirm the darn specs already. I don't know about you guys but im dying to know what that box is on the back of the phone and whether this thing will have a S-pen like feature. From the leaked pics it doens't seem like the HTC One Max will have a S-pen like feature but I would love to be surprised.

Haha you are the same guy as in the XDA forums. Same exact words too. In short, you have a huge decision to make since the Note 3 is single band LTE to weigh the pros and cons of the Note 3. The pros from your description seems to be the user experience with the S-pen, large screen, samsung software features and the cons seems to be the LTE coverage at home and being stuck with only 1 LTE band for the next 2 years. I think if your number 1 only concern is with LTE coverage is at your garage, I think the Note 3 will be worth it to you. Honestly if you are at home, you should be using your home wifi to connect to the internet on your phone. LTE should be reserved for mobile use when you are out and about. I would hate to give up my ideal phone especially if you can't deal with the smaller screen if its just for the reason of not being able to use it at home.

Awesome to hear. The 3000 maH battery should be a beast. Also I read this on XDA developers of someone who compared the G2 vs. GS4 camera. Lets just say he was impressed with the G2 camera. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=45622779&postcount=43 When you click on the Flicker link, the lower left corner shows the phone source between GS4 and G2 when you click for each pic. The only thing is in low light, the GS4 pics appear to look better than the G2 pics.

Oh yeah...good point.

Nice. This matches up to the info that we have heard recently from Robert on TD-LTE progress in the premier sponsors thread.