I'm trying to decide whether to go with note 4 or 3

[Naer]

I'm due for an upgrade next month

How much is the price drop gonna be for note 3 after 4 comes out?

 

[paperwastage]

I'm due for an upgrade next month

How much is the price drop gonna be for note 3 after 4 comes out?

Wait until the devices come out, especially with the iPhone cycle.... android devices drop more than apple

Typically I'd say buy when you need it, but I'm guessing the price difference shouldn't be a big deal for upgrades (usually new phones = $199 on contract and older phones = $0 -$99 on contract... can you stomach paying $99-199?)

 

[Spineshank]

The Note 3 was $299 when it came out. Maybe it still is even. I would expect it to be the same with the 4.

 

[fstime]

Would be foolish to not wait a month for the Note 4 release. Note's hold their value more than other android phones I believe if your talking after market.

 

[rcpratt]

Note 4 looks amazing. I'll be spending the $300.

 

[Red Storm]

Note 4 looks amazing. I'll be spending the $300.

What does it look like?

Right now you can get a used Note 3 for around ~$400, give or take. When the Note 4 launches expect that price to drop.

 

[s44]

Right now you can get a used Note 3 for around ~$400, give or take. When the Note 4 launches expect that price to drop.

That won't directly help him if he's looking to go subsidized.

 

[Red Storm]

That won't directly help him if he's looking to go subsidized.

True, but even the subsidized Note 3 price should drop. If he's on Verizon though, it's a waste of an upgrade to get a Note 3 if it's only going to be (for example) $100 cheaper than the Note 4.

 

[Sattern]

You could probably find a like new model of what you are looking for on Craigslist now or in a couple months if you really wanted to save some money.

 

[dawheat]

The Note 3 at AT&T is $229 which is off the original $299. Amazon has it for $149 which is a decent deal.

However with the announcement of the Note 4 only being 2 weeks away, it seems foolish to not wait and see if the phone is worth the upgrade. The Note 3 certainly doesn't lack for performance, display quality, or battery life, but if the Note 4 gains the improvements the S5 did, there will be noticeable improvements. And the Amazon price can only go down (maybe even down to $99).

On one hand, the improvements above may be all Samsung does and you decide it's not worth the extra $150+. Or on the other hand, Samsung might do something more like add the metal frame of the Alpha to the Note 4 - which might tilt it in the other direction.

 

[TysonW22]

I like Note 4.

 

[Rdmkr]

if the Note 4 gains the improvements the S5 did, there will be noticeable improvements.

Yeah but you get massive ugly bezels, weird back dimples, greater weight and a farther from ideal screen size along with them, which imo makes the S5 worse than the S4. The same may well happen with the Note 4. Anyway, it would be easy to decide if that's the case. Just wait for the announcement and judge it by its appearance.

I haven't used the Note 3 but it looks like an all around excellent device to me. I wouldn't expect them to easily be able to improve on it. For example I hear people say they want further shrunken bezels. Sorry, but the Note 3 is already a hair removed from matching the LG G2 in that aspect and doesn't sacrifice its capacitive buttons to get there. So don't get your hopes up.

 

[jpeyton]

When signing a typical two-year service contract worth about $2500+, you should ALWAYS buy the newer/better phone.

Saving $200 upfront sounds like a great idea now. Not such a great idea 18 months from now when you're still using the same phone on the same contract.

 

[Red Storm]

Yeah but you get massive ugly bezels, weird back dimples, greater weight and a farther from ideal screen size along with them, which imo makes the S5 worse than the S4. The same may well happen with the Note 4. Anyway, it would be easy to decide if that's the case. Just wait for the announcement and judge it by its appearance.

I have to disagree, completely. To me the S5 is better than the S4 in every way, without question.

The only problem for the Note 4 is that the Note 3 still is a very good phone.

 

[dawheat]

I have to disagree, completely. To me the S5 is better than the S4 in every way, without question.

The only problem for the Note 4 is that the Note 3 still is a very good phone.

I agree - the S4 is a very disappointing phone for me. It's passable as my secondary work phone, but I could never use it as my primary phone.
- The battery life is close to bad. It's substantially worse than the Note 3. Above everything else, the S5 fixed this problem.
- The app loading lag and regular stuttering - I setup my S4 and Note 3 (and prior Note 2) the same way. Disable all the bloat you can, turn off all the gestures, and use Nova. The Note 3 is smooth and fast all the time, the S4 locks up for 1/2 a second all the time.
- The hard plastic back of the S4 is a grease/fingerprint magnet. I'm happy with the Note 3 back material. The S5 material isn't the best looking but it's functionally much better than the S4 and I'd take it over the hard plastic.
- The S4 camera in low light is close to useless. The S5 isn't great, but it's useable. Unfortunately the Note 3 camera is closer to the S4 one.

I would have preferred the S5 not gain the larger bezels as IP certification isn't that useful to me, but as a Note user, it still feels pretty small. Other things like the display being brighter and more accurate, IP certification, etc are smaller improvements.

The "problem" I guess is that the Note 3 doesn't have most of these problems. However I do want:
- Better low light camera
- Better battery life - the Note 3 was basically the same as the Note 2 and is just "good enough" now, not great. I'd like the Note 4 to take a step forward and become a true all day phone
- Better build quality. The chrome frame looks and feels cheap and chips incredibly easily. The home button has some play to it which makes it feel a bit cheap - the S5s I've all used had a better home button movement. I'm OK with the plastic back, but the metal frame would be a huge plus to me.
- I think a sharper display would be a benefit as well. A 5.7" 1080p pentile screen is good, but there are differences up close to a 5" 1080p non-pentil screen. A 5.7" 1440p pentile screen would remove this issue. If it's brighter and more accurate like the S5 LTE-A screen is, even better.
- Finding a way to drop weight a bit would be a plus as well (with case + screen protector, you do fee the Note 3 weight after a while)

 

[rcpratt]

Metal build and 1440p are basically confirmed at this point.

 

[dawheat]

Metal build and 1440p are basically confirmed at this point.

1440p screen for sure, but I haven't seen anything strongly confirming a metal frame. Source? The rumours of additional Alpha line phones with flagship specs also have me a bit concerned about that.

 

[Insomniator]

Yeah but you get massive ugly bezels, weird back dimples, greater weight and a farther from ideal screen size along with them, which imo makes the S5 worse than the S4. The same may well happen with the Note 4. Anyway, it would be easy to decide if that's the case. Just wait for the announcement and judge it by its appearance.

The 'weird dimples' are better then plain plastic in every possible way. You are showing you've never held/used an S5 by saying that. I like the size of the s4 better, but the S5 is superior in every other aspect.

 

[openwheel]

The 'weird dimples' are better then plain plastic in every possible way. You are showing you've never held/used an S5 by saying that. I like the size of the s4 better, but the S5 is superior in every other aspect.

S5's weird dimpled plastic is better than S4's shiny plastic, but Note 3 faux leather bests them all.

 

[Rdmkr]

I'm holding the Samsung Tab S 8.4 as I type this. It has the dimples. Like I said in the other thread I can easily forgive it but I'm not a fan. Between note 3 false leather and this it's an easy choice afaic, and thats what matters to this thread's topic.

 

[Naer]

Im crossing my fingers that the , note 3 will dropp to 99 dollars on upgrade when the note 4 comes out

 

[Red Storm]

S5's weird dimpled plastic is better than S4's shiny plastic, but Note 3 faux leather bests them all.

This. I actually really liked the faux leather. It felt great, looked nice, and was not a fingerprint magnet. The best back ever is the Nexus 5's IMHO, but faux leather is definitely on the short list of backs that I really liked.

 

[Jodiuh]

I have to disagree, completely. To me the S5 is better than the S4 in every way, without question.

The only problem for the Note 4 is that the Note 3 still is a very good phone.

I could not have expressed this opinion as my opinion as good as this user has expressed his opinion. :thumbsup:

I would like to see more windows phones, but as it stands the Note 4/iPhone 6/Moto X+1 seem to be @ the short list in the immediate future. I'm waiting as long as I can...but hobbling along on this Lumia 635 after M8, S5, 5S is...irritating...WinSiri is great. I'll take Cortana over Android's voice system anyday. The ability to reply to texts so easily and so accurately, even the keyboard feels more accurate than Android or Smart Keyboard. Not quite iOS smooth, but it's nice. I also like how the url bar is located @ the bottom...you know...where my thumbs are.

/rant

 

[s44]

I also like how the url bar is located @ the bottom...you know...where my thumbs are.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/2eq25j/any_dev_who_makes_a_browser_with_a_url_bar_at_the/

 

[LtMikePowelll]

I'm waiting to see if the Note 4 support band 12 LTE on TMo before using JUMP to get it.