OT: Droid Maxx, THC One or Samsung Galaxy S4? Where to buy?

[Hans Sprungfeld]

5 weeks of good performance after a hard reset has devolved into regular periods each day when the phone enters a repetitive crash and reboot cycle for 45 minutes. Time for a new phone.

I'm sticking with Verizon, and leaning toward Droid Maxx. Some questions:

1. Amazon is selling for Droid Maxx $99. Is Costco a better option at $199 due to its 90 day return policy? What about Best Buy price matching/return policies? Any negotiation tips?
2. How do I transfer SD card apps & content to a phone without SD card slot (Motorola or HTC)?

Thanks in advance. (And I enjoyed pizza from Olde World and Zuppardi's in the past week)

 

[Drumguy]

I'd consider the MotoX as well and if you can wait, the Nexus5 will be the phone to get. My son works for Google Android and gets all these phones. He loved the One until he had the 5 to play with (not on Verizon) and he's holding on to the 5. I will probably upgrade from the Galaxy S3 to the 5 as well. I thought every phone at this point except the iPhone has a micro sd slot?

 

[Goat]

I imagine the THC One has better sound and colors.

I have a HTC One. Best phone I have had, way better than the DNA.

One of my son's has a Samsung and it is very nice. I prefer the HTC operating system. If the camera is important, the HTC has less megapixels, but is better in low light situations.

I'd try Best Buy, they might match Amazon and they give you a no questions return for either 10 or 30 days.

 

[DogMania]

I did a lot of research into this and landed on the HTC One. With that said, it's a matter of perference. HTC One has a better screen, true 1080 P and a better processor (quad-core) and I think more memory, but I could be wrong on that last part. Note that the HTC One does not allow for any expanded memory, though I find it hard that anyone could max out unless you have some sort of huge library of songs and videos. Just use one or many of the free external cloud storage offerings to save most of your junk. The sound on the speakers that are in the front are awesome and the boost you get via earbuds or bluetooth speaker from their built in Beats Audio can't be beat...pun intended. The battery life seems respectable. I go an entire day without needing to recharge. The look and feel can't be beat. The camera is very good as far as taking photos and video in low light, but doesn't have great resolution compared some some of the other phones. Only has a 4 MP camera though it has some sort of special pixels. If you try to zoom in on a certain part of your photo, can can't get the clarity that you'll get with say, the Galaxy S4. I think all the new droids have 8 MP cameras, and I didn't wait long enough to find out how well they were or how well the programs the Droids have to produce photos and video.

Now I know the new Droids have some interesting sense and voice command integration since it was designed closely with the Android OS in mind. One or more of the Droids is made with Kevlar. Both have Gorilla Glass which you don't even need a screen protector. I used to use them all the time, but no don't bother. I figure by the time I ever have something hit that screen hard enough to scratch it, I'll be ready for an upgrade. I think you need a sledge hammer to leave a mark in those screens any ways.

As for look and feel, I sort of chuckle a tad since everyone ends up adding protection around their devices where you can barely recognize what the device looks like without the protection. With that said, there are some nice cases for the HTC One that maintains much of its look. I do like the look of the new Droids, and in fact owned Motorola Droid phones twice before I switched to the HTC One.

I'm sure you can't go wrong with one of the new Droids or HTC One. I'm not a big fan of the Galaxy S4. It's just made cheaply. Although it has the more powerful processor, the Samsung OS they put ontop of Android is huge, larger than HTC's and eats up a lot of onboard memory. Though, until Android loads even more processing load on these phones in the years to come, you'll probably find the performance off all these devices plenty good. My HTC One is so much faster than my Droid Bionic that was turtle slow before I kicked it to the curb.

Good luck!!!! Let us know what device you land on and how it works for you.

 

[imno1]

Might look into the LG G2 which is similar to the Nexus 5.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Thanks for ideas and suggestions that mostly confirmed what I'd read and seen, and helped me

Interim report:

• Costco didn't yet have the Droid Maxx in its stores - "Sometime this month." I made use of its 90 day return policy when I initially got a Droid Bionic and ended up with a Droid Razr (unfortunately just before Razr Maxx was released).
• Best Buy no longer matches prices on cell phones, and sells Droid Maxx for $199. Amazon is $99. I don't know what Costco will be.
• I am sufficiently mobile that battery life has been my prime concern. This is what has kept me away from HTC One and Galaxy S4.
• LG G2 is $99 at Best Buy, has battery life comparable to Droid Maxx, plus better specs and more feature-rich.
• But I'm accustomed to the Motorola look-and-feel ('old dog, new tricks' thing), and Maxx is more simplified Android, probably closest experience to Nexus 5 as will be available on Verizon network. Would most like to see if the relatively incremental change would be sufficient, which would be ideal under Costco policies.
• In some ways, my process feels akin to imagining that I'd go with HTC One over Galaxy S4 if battery life weren't driving things . . . even though I know that S4 "does more."
• I know I'm therefore leaning toward the worst camera of the whole bunch, but wonder how much it matters to me. Similarly, I already think that lower resolution screen will be 'good enough,' as will processor performance. These seem to be the biggest knocks on Maxx. WIthout a case, Maxx is a bit smaller than my Razr with an Otterbox.
• Current phone is not recognized by PC to download data via USB cable, so I'll have to use a card reader for the mini SD and I did not have that with me today.
• Tuesday's task is to complete my backup and limp along with the Razr, which I might hard rest once more and enable with core apps to use until Costco gets Maxx sometime this month.
• If I can't wait, then Best Buy, Amazon or Verizon store? Any advice on this, especially pro-con of Amazon because of $99price? The $100 savings isn't 'necessary,' but it seems funny to just let it go. Early reviews of Maxx complained that it wasn't worth the initial $299 price premium and should be $199, which it is at Best Buy & Verizon. Btw, Maxx is $69 for new activations via Amazon.
• FYI, at Costco, HTC One is $49 and Galaxy S4 is $129.

All subject to change, kinda like recruiting.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

As far as I can tell, the Nexus 5 will not be released on Verizon's network at all. Google did not file the required FCC filings for their network, and during the launch, an executive was quoted as saying they had no plans to release through Verizon. That said, it's a shame because the Nexus phones are the best concept out there. Feature-rich, pure Android, no add-on garbage from the manufacturer, first to get Android system updates (This is where Google and Verizon have butted heads and where Verizon completely dropped the ball on their only Nexus phone release), and an overall quality experience. If you're looking for gadgets and gizmos, go for a Galaxy S4, but 50% of the stuff they put on there is more or less useless. Now that Google has figured out how to properly spec their phone so it lives up to the standards of a high-end smartphone - battery life, screen resolution, camera quality, etc. - it's really the best option out there for a non-iPhone user who isn't looking for quirky turn-your-phone-into-a-TV remote features.

 

[dandar]

I got my Maxx HD (previous version of the maxx) from wirefly.com At the time it was slightly cheaper than on Amazon plus it won't charge you tax.

I agree with you on the decision to go with the Maxx. The phone is fast enough and has a battery that will last you three days on a single charge. Also being able to say OK Google Now and having the phone do stuff for you without ever touching it is awesome. Apart from Moto X and the new droids there are no phones on the market with this capability.