Phone choices for Feb-March 2012 on Verizon, what would you choose and why?

[JeffDenver]

I never listen to the reps, I already know their dumb as a box of rocks and only trying to up their commission. Mainly commenting on how annoying they are, like flies in Africa.

But I will look over the Spectrum.

I have never understood why they are so stupid when it comes to phones. I mean, this is their job. Its not just a hobby for them.

But without fail, all of them have been clueless. Every time I have asked them a question about any phone, the answer has always been predictable. They know nothing.

 

[JeffDenver]

I'd like to say that LG is in my running, but honestly its not. I've been burned by LG products in the past and to be honest I havent read anything positive about LG in a long while, not that everything I've read is bad, just a lot of neutral information but more importantly no one is raving about their products at all, which for me is cause of concern.

Well, it is always possible that they have changed. The Spectrum is very competitive spec wise, and it does have an IPS display which is 720p...no one else has that.

I would not recommend it for the reasons you brought up though. LG has some proving to do before I'd trust them.

 

[Techsniffer]

If I was more dependent on 3g/4g coverage then I might worry more about cloud storage but every place I spend any amount of time has WiFi (home, work, gym at work, friends etc etc) and anyplace I generally drive I have 4g coverage very strong. So accessing my cloud items is always a snap. As for 8-g of storage... I simply have no use for it, even if I invented up reasons to store things on it I still wouldn't use half of that my needs have me capping out at about 10g I need to store on my phone. But with that said I'm usually traveling around with 2 laptops (Work/Personal), a Moto Xoom tablet, and 3 external HD's so maybe thats why I dont feel I need so much space on my phone lol.

 

[Quicksilver7714]

I will be in the market for a new set of phones (for me and my girl) in Feb or March, we are on Verizon and in a 4g LTE market. We are both currently grandfathered in on our unlimited data plans and she is rocking an OG Moto Droid and I have an HTC Thundrbolt 4g.

I would like feedback and suggestions (no flaming or ignorance please) on the choice you would have me make and please justify your responses.

Here are some of the things I was thinking:
- I want to try to stay grandfatered into my unlimited plan so I was planning on buying the phones off contract (prices isnt an issue and I understand that some phones are $800 a pop) and just activating them on our accounts.. my question is will this work or will Verizon find some way to swindle me into their new tiered package?

- I want a NEW phone, not one thats at or near their End of Life, try to keep it about 2 months past at max.

- ICS is a huge plus and very tempting but I do not want to become blinded by ICS and ignore potentially better hardware, options or screen size/quality(I know pretty much any new phone will be pushed ICS within a few months if it doesnt ship with it)

- My initial thoughts were the Razr Maxx or Galaxy Nexus but if you guys can think of a reason I should wait a few more weeks towards March or look into different phones then let me know, I do know that they are talking Quad cores soon but honestly I think were in a situation where the hardware is outpacing the software at least for right now so Quad cores isnt big on my wishlist, however dual core is a requirement.

I think that's my list, I greatly appreciate any and all feedback and please dont turn this into a bickering match, but I do encourage intelligent well thought out debate with actual reasons.

For starters there is absolutely no way for Verizon to swindle you out of your unlimited plans when you upgrade. The only way you can lose your unlimited plan is if you go to a dumb phone or if you cancel your plan.

Second as for phone choices the RazrMaxx and Galaxy Nexus are front runners in my book. He GNex has ICS and is easily unlocked it also lacks all of Verizon's bloatware. Plus it will receive regular updates from Google. The battery life is at most around 24-34 hours with minimal usage. I have the Nexus in a 4G network area and can vouch for this. At a minimum with heavy usage you are looking at 5-10 hours and straight video streaming is about 3 hours. *all times are with stock battery. I average about 24 hours light use and 15 medium*

The RazrMaxx has a huge 3300mAh internal battery and is supposed to have exceptional talk time at 21 hours. The locked bootloader is a small hassle but you can also root the device fairly easily.

Both phones have an Amoled screen with the RAZRMaxx having a Super Amoled Screen with a qHD display at 960x640 pixels. The Nexus how ever has a 720p HD Amoled display at 1200x720 pixels.
*Super Amoled uses less battery.
**Note the Nexus screen ahs a dedicated menu bar that makes the screen smaller but when watching videos the full screen will be utilized.

Both have OMAP 4 series processor clocked at 1.2Ghz.
You can't go wrong with either.

Also there are some other phones to consider;
The Rezound, easily rootable and. Unlocked. It also happens to be a Global phone. Please note that it is carrier locked in the US but can use a GSM Simcard if you go over seas. Have a look at this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1421341

The Rezound is solid but I have decided to stay away due to a bad experience with the Tbolt and horrible battery.

The Droid 4 should be a good choice for those that want a physical keyboard and 4G. It will have a 4" qhd super Amoled screen. But a nonremovable battery.

Also there is the LG Spectrum: ibhave recently spent some time with this phone and it seems that the radio is not the greatest. Speedtest.net speed vary wildly in a good signal zone when compared to a G'Nex which seems to pull great data speeds. The display is a 720p HD IPS display 1200x720 pixels. It looks great but the lack of a consistent radio is what has placed this phone at the bottom of the list.

All phones except the Nexus have Android 2.3 Gingerbread. They should at some point be updated to ICS.


Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[Techsniffer]

I think I made some confusion when I said swindle, but I have heard that Verizon tries to force you to sign a new contract in which you will be stuck with the tiered data. I guess if anything I need more information on exact verbiage I should be using when talking to the reps and what verbiage they will be using to try and dilute the chances of me realizing it.

I am more than willing to pay full retail on the phone is that means me and my girl remain on our unlimited contracts.

 

[Quicksilver7714]

I am not the primary line on our account but I have used two upgrades un the last 4 months with no problems.

The primary line is linked to the plan any secondary line will not renew the primary plan.

If you and your GF are on the same plan just upgrade the secondary line one day and then go to myverizon.com and transfer your upgrade to the secondary line and upgrade it again. But after upgrading transfer the second device to your line.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[Techsniffer]

I am not the primary line on our account but I have used two upgrades un the last 4 months with no problems.

The primary line is linked to the plan any secondary line will not renew the primary plan.

If you and your GF are on the same plan just upgrade the secondary line one day and then go to myverizon.com and transfer your upgrade to the secondary line and upgrade it again. But after upgrading transfer the second device to your line.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

You kinda lost me with this, my g/f and I are on the same plan and I am the primary and she has the secondary line.

I upgraded last March 2011 but her line has an upgrade available on it, grand total of 1 upgrades.

We both want a new phone and it will likely be 2 of the same phones. My primary concern is keeping the unlimited data on our lines.

 

[Quicksilver7714]

You kinda lost me with this, my g/f and I are on the same plan and I am the primary and she has the secondary line.

I upgraded last March 2011 but her line has an upgrade available on it, grand total of 1 upgrades.

We both want a new phone and it will likely be 2 of the same phones. My primary concern is keeping the unlimited data on our lines.

OK I thought there were two upgrades. So in that case up grade your GF's line to the more expensive phone, which ever one would cost more for full retail. Then who ever wanted that phone can use it. (You can have the phone transfer to your line after the upgrade. There is no charge for that)

After that buy at full retail the cheaper phone and activate it on the other line.

By doing that you avoided upgrading the Plan and you and her will both soil have unlimited data.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[Techsniffer]

Thats what I figured I would have to do, but I do recall when I ended up upgrading last time the rep had me pretty snowed into thinking that I HAD to sign a new contract etc. I just want to make sure I'm as informed as I can be before walking in the door and telling them their a moron.

 

[Quicksilver7714]

No you don't need to sign a new contract. My mom was using an old contract from a few years ago until last year. After two years is up you essentially pay month to month.

So let's say that you are on a Old plan that is cheaper than all the current plans, New ones. Your line, the primary is linked to the Plan as a whole. So when you upgrade you are forced to use a current plan. Other wise if you upgrade by having another line upgrade for you and then transfer the phone to your line your safe. From having to use a New plan. Which would be more expensive. Also you can upgrade by paying full retail for a phone. That is because you are not accepting any subsidies on the phone.

Simply put if you exchange phones with another line on your plan. Or you upgrade at full retail you DO NOT have to sign a new plan.

Do you see where I am coming from?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[JeffDenver]

Also there are some other phones to consider;
The Rezound, easily rootable and. Unlocked.

No, it is unlockABLE. That is an important distinction.

You have to unlock it on HTC's website. Doing so potentially voids part of your warranty (I can go into more detail, but the short of it is, there are potential consequences). I assume this applies to the Galaxy nexus as well (it also has to be unlocked, though you probably dont need to go through Samsung to do it).

After it is unlocked, you can use the 1 click root method to root it.

It also happens to be a Global phone.

That was a pleasant surprise. It isnt something I would ever use personally, but its not a bad thing.
(Also, there is FM radio hardware as well in the Rezound).

The Rezound is solid but I have decided to stay away due to a bad experience with the Tbolt and horrible battery.

I poo pooed the Thunderbolt when it first came out. I can confirm that the Rezound has NONE of the issues the Thunderbolt had. Even the battery life with the stock battery is not that bad.

 

[JeffDenver]

I think I made some confusion when I said swindle, but I have heard that Verizon tries to force you to sign a new contract in which you will be stuck with the tiered data. I guess if anything I need more information on exact verbiage I should be using when talking to the reps and what verbiage they will be using to try and dilute the chances of me realizing it.

I am more than willing to pay full retail on the phone is that means me and my girl remain on our unlimited contracts.

When I bought my Rezound on Amazon, there was an option to specifically retain my Unlimited data. I think it was even highlighted by default.

 

[blackmagick20]

You can definitely upgrade your phone without changing your plan. Yes...you will sign a new 2 year contract, but that does NOT change your plan whatsoever. You also can take any existing upgrade on any line on your plan and transfer it to any other line. You can even do this yourself directly on Verizon's website.
You are the only person that can change your plan. Verizon doesn't trick you just because you have to sign a new 2 year contract to upgrade your phone.
I've been a Verizon customer for almost 10 years, I change my phones at least twice a year, and I've only changed my actual voice/data plan 4 times in all those years, due to saving myself money

Sent from my DROID3 using DroidForums

 

[LegalAmerican]

I have to throw my vote in. I would go with the Razr Maxx. I love the idea of a thin, stylish phone with a huge battery. I would have wanted the Razr, but the battery worried me. The Maxx changes that for me. Although I am loving my Bionic and will not be changing.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[SGTSCHU]

Get to your local store and get some time with the phones. Get to know a rep that will sit with you and go over the differences. Each has pros and cons. The one for you may not be the same for the next guy. I have the Razr and love it. It is a very capable phone with great technology features. I grew into Android with the OG Droid and made a very smooth transition with Razr. I cant imagine what the transition to ICS will mean...If battery is an issue, get the Maxx over the Razr. The Razr will still provide decent battery, especially if smart actions are set up. Perhaps Maxx will drop in price by the time you are ready. Get to the store and play!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using DroidForums