Maxx hd vs s3

[electric turd]

I'm due for an upgrade and I'm naturally trying to decide between 2 of the top phones on Verizon. It seems like there isn't a sure fire winner either way. Does anyone have any comments or help on which phone would be better? I like the rom ability of the gs3 a lot.
The main things I'm looking for are:
Battery ....I know the maxx wins here but how much difference is there in daily use?
Build quality... I've heard stories of glass braking on the gs3
I live in a good signal area if that matters. I use to have the OG droid and loved installing roms. Is that reason worth it alone to go to the gs3? I also use a MacBook and have heard of issues with the gs3 not syncing right with theses computers?

Any help would be great appreciated

 

[Dreamliner330]

Samsung signal quality has always been less than ideal. Motorola has always been superior in this area. The two phones are very similar. I don't like the onscreen buttons of the Moto, but the battery life is much better.

If you don't care about signal, Samsung has better ROM support. If you care about signal, there is only one good choice.

 

[electric turd]

Thanks. It does seem like either way is a trade off. I'm not real crazy about the onscreen buttons either. So you have the hd? Would you buy it again? The battery on the gs3 scares me also to be honest

 

[scott15851]

Go to the S3 forum and look at all the issues, and oh yeah and battery sucks

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX HD using Android Central Forums

 

[Bob61]

Expect to really get an clear answer? That's like asking if Toyota or Honda is best in a Honda forum. Both have strengths and weaknesses, get what gives you the most pleasure.

 

[Dreamliner330]

Thanks. It does seem like either way is a trade off. I'm not real crazy about the onscreen buttons either. So you have the hd? Would you buy it again? The battery on the gs3 scares me also to be honest

Even though I dislike onscreen buttons, the RAZR MAXX is simply the best phone on Verizon. Call reliability & battery life are the most important things to me.

Samsung forums are always littered with reception issue threads.

 

[jphillips1963]

Even though I dislike onscreen buttons, the RAZR MAXX is simply the best phone on Verizon. Call reliability & battery life are the most important things to me.

Samsung forums are always littered with reception issue threads.

I just picked up the razr max HD today at bestbuy and I can't make any recommendations towards this phone as of yet, but I will say moto has always been well known for there superior radios. They have always sucked at updates but since google acquired them that may be different now days. I can say coming from my HTC Rezound the radio in it is on par with the radio in my new max HD. That I will say had been the best phone I ever owned, never had to call tech support or do a factory reset, downside though battery life even with the extended battery it still was bad. I am a heavy user though, I tether my phone to my tablet and am constantly on the Internet or texting. So the battery in this new max will be the tell of all tales in a few days.
The Samsung products have nice specs but the build sux and so do there radios. They did get better after the Gnex but they still showed worse radio signal over moto and HTC

 

[electric turd]

Updates brings up another subject I'm concerned about. With the moto you are at the mercy of moto and Verizon. With the Samsung you can run roms from aosp and get fairly current updates and not dependent on the carrier. I'm so confused!!!

 

[Megaroad]

Thanks. It does seem like either way is a trade off. I'm not real crazy about the onscreen buttons either. So you have the hd? Would you buy it again? The battery on the gs3 scares me also to be honest

My answer to this question is..."probably." I appreciate the battery life and stock-like custom UI enough to choose it again over what's currently available, I think. The negatives are the camera and some build-quality imperfections, and the fact that most apps give you less useable screen space...however, about those on-screen buttons, even though they give you less space, they are nice to use. I think the experience of using them is superior to below-the-screen capacitive buttons. Whether or not it's worth having less useable screen area, idk. Good phone though. Yeah, I'd probably choose it again. I'm spoiled by the battery life now.

Btw, the UI is nice. The "circles widget" is the best time/weather widget out there, it's really nice, does a lot of things - lets you set alarms, see detailed weather, see exact battery %, preview texts, and it's visually appealing. Swipe-to-the-left for settings is nice. The Moto keyboard is nice. They did a good job with the software..

 

[Chadwick17]

My wife has a GS3 and I recently upgraded to the Maxx HD. There are things about both phones that I like but ultimately I would choose the Maxx HD again.

-The screen on the GS3 seems almost a little too big.
-Personally, I hate the home button on the GS3 and much prefer the on-screen buttons on the Maxx HD.
-As mentioned before, I'd take Motorola's current iteration of Blur over TouchWiz any day of the week.
-We both agree that the call quality on the Motorola is better than the Samsung.
- The Motorola hardware is also much nicer (in my opinion) than Samsung. Samsung feels too much like plastic. While the Moto is heavier I actually like the weight of the phone - it feels right. A phone can feel 'too light' and I think the GS3 falls into this category.

 

[aannddrrooiidd]

the difference in radio quality between the s3 and maxx is tremendous. if you are always in good service area, it might not effect you. if you are in bad areas or travel through them, there is absolutely no question whatsoever that the maxx outperforms the s3. i owned both at same time. of course the battery cant be touched. for me the two most important items in a phone!

 

[CollegePartyBoy]

Funny, I went from the Rezound. Always loved HTC products. Being a Verizon customer, my only choices 6 weeks ago was the Maxx HD and the S3. I tried to love the S3. It is marketed so well that they do make you think you're missing out on something. Every time I played with it though it seemed so plasticy, that it was toy-like. Seemed very cheap. Loved the thinness. The colors on the display seemed fake. Hard to explain, just seemed cartoonish. The first day the Maxx came out, I went to the store, picked it up and knew right away the build quality was top notch.

Since then, I have been happy as hell. The camera is lousy. But if you take your time, most the pictures turn out fine. It is not a deal-killer for me. I travel for a living and cannot believe how good the battery is, the radio is and how unobtrusive blur is. I play music over the speaker, it is fantastic. I really like the gorilla glass. I have yet to have a single glitch in the software.

 

[bgl321]

I had the S3 for about a month. Great phone but hate Touchwiz. Battery life, no contest. HD is a sold build! Feels so much better in your hand than the S3! Have had the Maxx HD since Friday and I love it! My biggest hold up was the camera coming from the S3 and the 4S. I took some random pics in somewhat decent lighting last night with the 4S and the HD and honestly had a hard time telling the difference. Very happy with my HD. Let me know if you any other specific questions.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Android Central Forums