Verizon Unlimited data users, next phone choice?

[bearxor]

Same boat as OP, thinking maybe S4 or wait for droid maxx. HTC One looks nice, but non removable battery seems like a bad idea since on both OG droid and GNex after one year batteries really tanked for me. Any hints on what to keep an eye on if buying used? Not sure how activation works since its not just "stick the sim card in" like on GSM.

For Verizon LTE, swapping SIMs works fine. I do it between a RAZR HD, z10 and q10 all the time.

If the battery is a concern, then I don't think you need to look anywhere besides a SGS4. The Moto Droid will have a sealed battery.

 

[spdfreak]

Kinda interested in a W8 phone for my next go-around.

I bought a Lumia 822 new off ebay for 150.00. Great phone and I kept my unlimited data which I use at home for internet sharing. I think with the latest Nokia firmware updates and 8.1, it is going to be really good. I think it is pretty hard to beat for the price...

 

[notposting]

I bought a Lumia 822 new off ebay for 150.00. Great phone and I kept my unlimited data which I use at home for internet sharing. I think with the latest Nokia firmware updates and 8.1, it is going to be really good. I think it is pretty hard to beat for the price...

I bought the Lumia 928 and looked at 822 prices on ebay, decided I would save the money they want for insurance and will just buy an 822 if I ever need one.

Have the NFC SE SIM on the way from Verizon, hoping they have their WP app ready when they roll out ISIS nationwide. I would love to be able to just go to Kroger and bonk my phone on the CC terminal a couple times :whiste:

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I'm hold out till something comes out worth looking into.

Bummed out the X is a pos.

 

[openwheel]

I bought a Lumia 822 new off ebay for 150.00. Great phone and I kept my unlimited data which I use at home for internet sharing. I think with the latest Nokia firmware updates and 8.1, it is going to be really good. I think it is pretty hard to beat for the price...

How do you share your unlimited data with Lumia 822? Are you paying the extra $30/month tethering fee?

 

[Face2Face]

Isn't the HTC One coming to Verizon soon? They are discontinuing the Droid DNA, which I have My wife picked up a GS4, because her GS3 was a major lemon. I will say the S4 is an amazing phone, the screen looks great and the battery life is very good. I would even say it's better than my DNA, definitely worth a look.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Isn't the HTC One coming to Verizon soon? They are discontinuing the Droid DNA, which I have My wife picked up a GS4, because her GS3 was a major lemon. I will say the S4 is an amazing phone, the screen looks great and the battery life is very good. I would even say it's been than my DNA, definitely worth a look.

Yeah, it is.

 

[mastorpaz]

Rumors are HTC One coming to Verizon on 15th. Then again, the "original" rumors were August 1st
There could be a bigger version of One coming soon too which looks interesting, maybe not on Verizon though http://www.androidcentral.com/htc-one-max-chinese-market-pictured

 

[fbrdphreak]

S4 or maybe Moto X. I don't know why everyone said the Moto X failed. It hasn't even started shipping. The features are solid, even if the hardware is not top notch. I'm hoping the off contract price will be decent.

Maybe others can enlighten me. Does Verizon start to discount the off-contract price of older phones are a while? So, regarding their payment program, would the price of an S4 maybe drop towards the end of the year and I can use their payment program? I just don't want to pay the ~$600 for a new S4 when it's not a brand new model.

 

[bearxor]

S4 or maybe Moto X. I don't know why everyone said the Moto X failed. It hasn't even started shipping. The features are solid, even if the hardware is not top notch. I'm hoping the off contract price will be decent.

Maybe others can enlighten me. Does Verizon start to discount the off-contract price of older phones are a while? So, regarding their payment program, would the price of an S4 maybe drop towards the end of the year and I can use their payment program? I just don't want to pay the ~$600 for a new S4 when it's not a brand new model.

The Moto X is DOA for a lot of us because of the price, no other reason. I think most of us would gladly accept it if it was priced accordingly. But it's underpowered compared to the HTC One and SGS4. The Sony i1 and LG G2 are just going to destroy it. I have a feeling some of the software tweaks will make their way in to the core OS eventually. Especially if the X fails, sales-wise. The off-contract price has been tipped to be the same as other flagship hardware, in the > $500 range.

As for Verizon discounts... While they often lower the on-contract price for sales or other deals, typically (almost always) the actual retail price of the device is unchanged. I wouldn't expect the SGS4 to be cheaper, off-contract, than it is now until the SGS5 gets launched.

I'm actually looking really forward to seeing the LG G2, though it's a monster size, IMO.

 

[spdfreak]

How do you share your unlimited data with Lumia 822? Are you paying the extra $30/month tethering fee?

Yes, I pay the monthly fee. 30.00/mo for high speed (10-20Mbps) unlimited data anywhere in the US is a really good deal to me... and I use a LOT of data.

 

[spdfreak]

I bought the Lumia 928 and looked at 822 prices on ebay, decided I would save the money they want for insurance and will just buy an 822 if I ever need one.

Have the NFC SE SIM on the way from Verizon, hoping they have their WP app ready when they roll out ISIS nationwide. I would love to be able to just go to Kroger and bonk my phone on the CC terminal a couple times :whiste:

My phone has the NFC stuff built in- do I need a special SIM to use? I really need to get the wireless charging back cover so I don't have to plug it in all the time.

 

[AkumaX]

Been out of the loop for a while. Why did the MotoX fail?

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I may just pick up the moto x if other reviews confirm the ridiculously awesome battery life. Engadget review said he used it "heavily" for over 24 hours and still had 20% left on the battery.

CPU Speed and screen resolution are just for bragging rights at this point. The X has a ridiculously fast dual core processor in it and an amazing GPU. It will perform great for what I want to use it for. Email, web browsing, and phone calls. I don't need a quad core for that, but I do want a phone that doesn't discharge the battery within 1 hour of browsing the web like my bionic.

Not everyone needs the flagship spec bragging rights. IMO battery life is the only factor that will decide my next phone purchase.

 

[hans007]

Been out of the loop for a while. Why did the MotoX fail?

It didn't. Geeks just think it did. Which of course barely matters.

If these guys made car buying decisions no one would buy a Camry either.

I'll probably get one eventually. I have a RAZR m now and like the software features even if its not a massive spec bump. The active display and faster start camera alone would be worth it for me. The only thing that isn't so great is i don't plan to leave Verizon unlimited so I'm not sure if I should just get a black one or wait for the custom. That exclusive sucks. But I'm guessing it was some sort of bribe to at&t to feature it or something

I probably am the market for this at this point. 5 years ago i was rockin a g1 and being different from my ios friends and I'd care about the specs more. Now I just care that it works. Hell I wouldn't even care if they never update the android version if it works well out of box.

Plus the people whining about price. Its gonna eventually get on some $50 wirefly / amazon deal and in the end you pay for Verizon unlimited. An extra $50 for a phone shouldn't be killing you

 

[bearxor]

I may just pick up the moto x if other reviews confirm the ridiculously awesome battery life. Engadget review said he used it "heavily" for over 24 hours and still had 20% left on the battery.

CPU Speed and screen resolution are just for bragging rights at this point. The X has a ridiculously fast dual core processor in it and an amazing GPU. It will perform great for what I want to use it for. Email, web browsing, and phone calls. I don't need a quad core for that, but I do want a phone that doesn't discharge the battery within 1 hour of browsing the web like my bionic.

Not everyone needs the flagship spec bragging rights. IMO battery life is the only factor that will decide my next phone purchase.

Then why not get the Droid MAXX? It's got double the battery life of the X and, essentially, the exact same specs. I think the screen is a little larger. 5" instead of 4.7".

If these guys made car buying decisions no one would buy a Camry either.

The analogy is flawed, as Toyota doesn't price the Camry like its a Ferrari.

Plus the people whining about price. Its gonna eventually get on some $50 wirefly / amazon deal and in the end you pay for Verizon unlimited. An extra $50 for a phone shouldn't be killing you

But seeing as we're talking about getting a phone at full retail in order to keep unlimited data on Verizon, a $50 Wirefly deal does nothing, as the full retail price doesn't change when these deals are going on.

 

[Crono]

The analogy is flawed, as Toyota doesn't price the Camry like its a Ferrari.

It's more like the Porsche Panamera S (the Moto X) vs the Nissan GT-R (HTC One or GS4).

 

[Red Storm]

Yes, I pay the monthly fee. 30.00/mo for high speed (10-20Mbps) unlimited data anywhere in the US is a really good deal to me... and I use a LOT of data.

FYI when I had unlimited data I always tethered via apps from the Play Store without paying Verizon that extra $30/month and never ran into any issues, and I would tether a lot.

 

[notposting]

My phone has the NFC stuff built in- do I need a special SIM to use? I really need to get the wireless charging back cover so I don't have to plug it in all the time.

The SIM card will provide the "Secure Element" necessary to protect data. This is part of the whole mess with Google Wallet also I guess. The carriers are planning on rolling out their own joint payment system called ISIS (AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mo, I guess) that they have been testing and it will require their own app and a SE of some sort, looks like it will be going on the SIM card.

I did see where someone mentioned that the SIM card concept could be a good one, as that way it automatically travels to your new device (versus integrating it into the devices themselves). The SIM is free, if you check online and look at your devices you should see an option to get the NFC SIM.

If I could go shopping with just my phone and license I would be a happy camper.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

FYI when I had unlimited data I always tethered via apps from the Play Store without paying Verizon that extra $30/month and never ran into any issues, and I would tether a lot.

I have unlimited and I tether whenever I'm pulling in a lot of data, like a full game download, so I don't eat through the home Internet's allotted amount.

 

[Face2Face]

I have unlimited and I tether whenever I'm pulling in a lot of data, like a full game download, so I don't eat through the home Internet's allotted amount.

You have an home internet data allowance? Who do you use? Oh yea forgot to ask - how is the motherboard? Up and running?

 

[Mondozei]

It didn't. Geeks just think it did. Which of course barely matters.

Except that it did. And geeks know better than you do.

The Moto X failed because it is a 2012 phone being sold at a price equivalent for a high-end 2013 phone. That's why it failed. Also, being owned by Google apparently makes them not even get Android 4.3 at launch which doesn't spell nice for future updates.

 

[Red Storm]

Except that it did. And geeks know better than you do.

The Moto X failed because it is a 2012 phone being sold at a price equivalent for a high-end 2013 phone. That's why it failed. Also, being owned by Google apparently makes them not even get Android 4.3 at launch which doesn't spell nice for future updates.

It only "fails" to me because of price. Make it cheaper and it's a great phone.

The whole update thing is overblown, and has been overblown for a while now. Google updates the apps themselves with most of the new features, so you only need to update the app. This is much better than having to wait for an annual OS update.

 

[hans007]

Then why not get the Droid MAXX? It's got double the battery life of the X and, essentially, the exact same specs. I think the screen is a little larger. 5" instead of 4.7".


The analogy is flawed, as Toyota doesn't price the Camry like its a Ferrari.


But seeing as we're talking about getting a phone at full retail in order to keep unlimited data on Verizon, a $50 Wirefly deal does nothing, as the full retail price doesn't change when these deals are going on.

I'm likely just buying it on eBay once some people buy it off a deal and flip it. Usually how I get phones.

That said its not 10 times more expensive like a Ferrari and Camry example.

I know geeks and engineer types like to optimize everything down to the perfect most logical thing but I wouldn't get a max just because I don't like how it looks. And im an engineer and I guess a geek. I absolutely know what all the other phones have in them but I don't understand why everyone cares so much about specs. It does phone things well. It costs phone prices. Anyway I think my point is it wont be a fail like the op said. Might not be the phone for everyone but I'm sure a lot of people will be getting them

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Then why not get the Droid MAXX? It's got double the battery life of the X and, essentially, the exact same specs. I think the screen is a little larger. 5" instead of 4.7".

It's more expensive for the exact same specs basically and it's extremely ugly.