Excited for Galaxy Note 3 announcement tomorrow...

[Red Storm]

I went in with every intention to buy this phone. something about touchwiz that I can't stand... that paired with the sammys capacitive buttons really bothers me. maybe if they could at least put the back button on the left I could deal with it.

on top of it, it feels huge. I know that will probably go away with time, but I really think 4.7-5" is the right size for me.

and then to seal the deal 300 on contract and 720+ out right is a lot of money

I am really drawn to the moto x, but no removable battery concerns me. I think I am going to wait it out and see what is what with the nexus 5.... still though, no removable battery on that either

You hate Touchwiz, you hate Samsung's button layout, you hate the size, you hate the price... and you say you intended to buy it? That doesn't really make sense.

 

[Chocu1a]

Anyone looking for a lightweight, thin, but protective case, I just received my SUPCASE
Unicorn Beetle case.
The fit is very nice, feels great in hand. Feels like it would offer decent protection if dropped on a corner. (Not willing to test this...lol)

 

[Red Storm]

Anyone looking for a lightweight, thin, but protective case, I just received my SUPCASE
Unicorn Beetle case.
The fit is very nice, feels great in hand. Feels like it would offer decent protection is dropped on a corner. (Not willing to test this...lol)

Looks neat, but I actually have come to love the faux leather backing. Waiting on the official S View or Flip View cases (whatever they're called) to be in stock.

Edit: Haven't plugged my phone in for over 25 hours, at 30% and I haven't even turned on Power Saving yet. :awe:

 

[Chocu1a]

Looks neat, but I actually have come to love the faux leather backing. Waiting on the official S View or Flip View cases (whatever they're called) to be in stock.

Edit: Haven't plugged my phone in for over 25 hours, at 30% and I haven't even turned on Power Saving yet. :awe:

It definitely feels better than the Diztronics I put on it when I bought the N3.
It is more rigid. It actually reminds me of the official protective+ case offered from Samsung. Polycarbonate back & absorbing tpu on the sides.

 

[dawheat]

Well, I don't have this phone so my arguments is as strong as the next opinion and I'm not interested in picking a fight with lemmings. Just going by what another reviewer said and it seems to echo what people here are complaining about here.

As for the Optimus G Pro. Yes I have it and the battery life is great. I have no complaints in that department.

smh

- finds one review of not great battery life and trumpets it, ignores practically every other review on the internet
- the one guy on the thread experiencing bad battery life solves it
- actual owners of the phone experiencing good battery life
- owns a phone which has measurably worse battery life in every review, but it doesn't have 'terrible' battery life

But not interested in picking a fight with lemmings - stay classy Dari.

 

[Raduque]

Is one able to buy it outright from T-Mobile, not get an account, and get an unlock code? It's $20-something cheaper from T than AT&T.

 

[Phobic9]

Is one able to buy it outright from T-Mobile, not get an account, and get an unlock code? It's $20-something cheaper from T than AT&T.

Some have had luck getting T-Mobile to sell them a phone with no account but most people have been buying from Negri Electronics which hasn't shipped the T-Mobile versions yet.

 

[bonkers325]

PEBKAC in my case. I installed a program that was constantly syncing. After factory reset, my battery has barely moved overnight. Slept at 97%, woke up at 94%. Time to identify the rogue program though.

 

[Skott]

I'm curious what types of carrying cases people are using for the Note 3. Not everyone can be carrying it around in their pockets can they?

 

[Phobic9]

I'm curious what types of carrying cases people are using for the Note 3. Not everyone can be carrying it around in their pockets can they?

I only had a screen protector on my Note 2 and had it in one pocket. Didn't really have any problems. The Note 3 is even slimmer ave lighter and I'm actually amazed at the difference.

 

[Platypus]

PEBKAC in my case. I installed a program that was constantly syncing. After factory reset, my battery has barely moved overnight. Slept at 97%, woke up at 94%. Time to identify the rogue program though.

Glad to hear you killed the wakelock

 

[iahk]

So I figured out the slow picture taking issue. Apparently having the Smart Stabilization feature turned on causes the slowdown. I can now do a proper burst mode.

yea I found it strange that Samsung left that on by default. I also became sad that they removed the pop up browser. I was able to side load it but I wish they kept that in.

The biggest win here for me was the updated keyboard. They finally added auto correct and an option to keep the keyboard in floating mode.

 

[bonkers325]

Glad to hear you killed the wakelock

I suspect it may be Google trying to sync something and failing spectacularly at it. Right now I disabled all the non essential syncing and it appears to be doing great. At 91% now.

 

[dawheat]

No luck myself at 2 T-Mobile corporate stores and they said they wouldn't give the unlock code until after 40 days of service. Might have more luck at an authorized retailer. Ended up just getting it from att.

 

[lopri]

Saw this phone as well in my trip to the AT&T store yesterday. Impressive build. Thin and light. The pleather back was rather comfortable to hold. I even tried the 4K recording and liked how it shows how much storage is being used during the filming, though I wonder how many people actually has a monitor/TV that can properly display 4K footages.

It is no doubt the king of Android for now to those who do not mind larger (4.5+") phones. But Touchwiz is still troublesome as well as all those bloats. Overall UI reponsiveness was worse than that on LG G2. Hopefully Samsung will listen to the criticism and rebuild/modernize its Touchwiz ROM from ground-up for their next products.

 

[CZroe]

Is one able to buy it outright from T-Mobile, not get an account, and get an unlock code? It's $20-something cheaper from T than AT&T.

Yes, but it isn't just about the price: The T-Mobile version supports additional bands and has an unlocked bootloader.

Anyway, you can buy it outright and get it unlocked. There are a few options:
-Buy it from T-Mobile and use it for more than 7 days with a post-paid account that's older than 40-days (existing account: use for 7 days; new account: wait 40 days and use last 7 days).
-Buy it from T-Mobile and pay a foreign website for an unlock code (~$20). This is technically illegal in the USA.
-Buy it already unlocked from a different vendor like NegriElectronics.

I checked locally and it's $791.XX after taxes and stuff to buy direct from T-Mobile. Negri is $669.XX shipped to any state other than NV (see SlickDeals.net for the coupon code).

I considered buying from T-Mo and using my sister's existing account but I decided against letting her use my phone for 7 days (it must show activity). To do it myself would mean signing up and paying over two month's which is not OK either. They said it's only certain types of accounts that qualify too (not the $30 prepaid ones, for example).

 

[KentState]

Messed with one today at the store. I do like the less rounded corners and feel/grip of the faux leather backing. The screen is also nicer than my N2, but it was hard to tell without the exact same image up. Overall, it's not worth $700 for me to upgrade or even the contract price, but would otherwise recommend to anyone wanting a new phone.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Just picked up a black AT&T version and so far it's incredible. The size isn't as much of an issue as I thought it would be and it even fits in my jeans pocket without issue.

 

[HitAnyKey]

Was considering one of these. Looks like a solid choice. Bit unsure if I want a phone with a stylus. For those buying these, do you find the stylus to be a compelling reason to get one?

By the way, the Anandtech review didn't seem all that flattering to the Note 3. Can anyone comment on his findings and give some feedback on performance?

Thanks!

 

[KentState]

Was considering one of these. Looks like a solid choice. Bit unsure if I want a phone with a stylus. For those buying these, do you find the stylus to be a compelling reason to get one?

By the way, the Anandtech review didn't seem all that flattering to the Note 2. Can anyone comment on his findings and give some feedback on performance?

Thanks!

I rarely use the stylus, but it does work well. Not sure about the review, but I haven't had any issues with performance or battery life with mine.

 

[Chocu1a]

So, I just noticed Samsung removed the dedicated LOW LIGHT mode from the camera. WTF were they thinking? Trying to take a photo in a darker room now results in an almost black image. This is highly disappointing.
Note 2

Note 3

 

[Zivic]

You hate Touchwiz, you hate Samsung's button layout, you hate the size, you hate the price... and you say you intended to buy it? That doesn't really make sense.

I had a galaxy nexus (samsung phone) and it proved to be a durable phone. I like the removable battery. thought I would like the large screen.

didn't know I hated touchwiz or the button layout till I messed with on the note3.

the buttons would be OK, but why is the back button on the right? wouldn't it be more intuitive to have it on the left? not sure what use the menu button has... at least to the point it needs to always be there. I'm fine with the home button where it is

 

[bonkers325]

So, I just noticed Samsung removed the dedicated LOW LIGHT mode from the camera. WTF were they thinking? Trying to take a photo in a darker room now results in an almost black image. This is highly disappointing.

use the smart stabilization feature

 

[bonkers325]

Just a battery update to any who are curious:

After factory reset, I experienced no issues with battery loss. I did not charge for over 24 hours and went to bed with a 61% charge - after using my GPS to map my bike ride for an hour, going to a wedding and taking about 2 dozen photos and some video, and browsing Reddit and ATOT for about an hour.

So in short, I am getting stellar battery life. I haven't pinpointed the issues previously, but I suspect it was some sort of cloud syncing that wouldn't turn off. I'm slowly bringing back my syncing and seeing if I can duplicate this issue.

 

[Chocu1a]

use the smart stabilization feature

I tried, while it is better than auto, it is still not the same.