Opinions of G3 after a few months of use

Rizz1-2

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Hey everyone!

I am considering getting a G3 on Verizon next month and was wondering how you all are liking your phone these days. I like the price point the G3 is at and the spec sheet looks great, even being a few months old. Would you all recommend it still or would you go a different route? Any and all opinions are welcome, positive or negative! I am particularly interested in battery life and what you all think of LG's skin. Thanks!
 

Bosgarage57

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I bought mine on black Friday for $50, got the white. I think vzw dropped the price to $0 yesterday so I think Im gonna return mine and get a red one. I came from a Note 2, what do you currently have? It wasn't a vast improvement over my 2 year old phone, a bit thinner, sleeker, and I can tell that it doesn't lag like my N2 did, but maybe my N2 needed a factory reset. So far my battery life has been good, not great, but not a hog either. Im a heavy user: Pandora, Torrents, internet, games. I use about 50-60 gigs a month (keeping unlimited data). So far I like the phone, but depending on what you have it may not be a huge improvement.
 

Rizz1-2

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I bought mine on black Friday for $50, got the white. I think vzw dropped the price to $0 yesterday so I think Im gonna return mine and get a red one. I came from a Note 2, what do you currently have? It wasn't a vast improvement over my 2 year old phone, a bit thinner, sleeker, and I can tell that it doesn't lag like my N2 did, but maybe my N2 needed a factory reset. So far my battery life has been good, not great, but not a hog either. Im a heavy user: Pandora, Torrents, internet, games. I use about 50-60 gigs a month (keeping unlimited data). So far I like the phone, but depending on what you have it may not be a huge improvement.

Coming from a Droid DNA now. I loved this phone but its starting to show its age and the battery has been having problems.
 

Bosgarage57

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That's why I'll never have a phone with a non removable battery or no sd card. Like the looks of the turbo but that's a killer for me. Are you paying retail or 2 yr contract? I'm afraid the g3 won't be a 2 yr phone, hopefully it will be
 

xocomaox

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I got mine in July and it is actually even better now than ever. I've got a custom ROM on it (Hello Jasmine 3.0, 4.4.4) and it is smooth, quick and dependable.
 

Rizz1-2

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That's why I'll never have a phone with a non removable battery or no sd card. Like the looks of the turbo but that's a killer for me. Are you paying retail or 2 yr contract? I'm afraid the g3 won't be a 2 yr phone, hopefully it will be

Non-removable battery and SD card aren't important to me. 98% of the time I am near an outlet anyways so I can top off when needed. Truth be told the DNA is the best phone I have owned. It is still very quick and fluid and a joy to use. But like I mentioned the battery is going and to be honest I like new tech so even if it was still 100% the same as the first day I bought it I would still be getting a new phone. And I will be signing a new 2 year contract.
 

Bosgarage57

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I feel the same about the tech. I love phones but nothing's really wowed me like the Note did 2 years ago. I'm hoping the g3 will last me till project ara gets up and going.
 

belodion

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Like xocomaox I bought mine in July and the only negative thing I can say about it is that battery life, as judged by screen-on time, has been less of late. I don't know why. Perhaps Android 5.0 will improve matters. Perhaps not.

Posted via the Android Central App
 

kj11

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I also got my G3 back in July, and I think it's great. Much better signal/reception than I got with the note 3. It feels great in the hand and is fast. The battery will give me anywhere from 4 to 5 hours of screen on time, which is perfect for me
 

strock2e30

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Coming from a Droid DNA now. I loved this phone but its starting to show its age and the battery has been having problems.

I also have the G3 on Verizon and came from the DNA. I loved the DNA but shattered my screen. I decided to try this instead of screen repair. I really enjoy the G3. Even more than the DNA. The added screen size is definitely a big plus to me. I find the battery is fine. Typically get 4 hours of screen time with approx 40 % left at the end of a 16 hour day. That is a mix of email, 2 hrs of blue tooth music to a speaker in car (to and from work), checking sports apps for news etc, a few videos here and there and streaming 2 hrs of espn radio every morning while at work. Plus approx 25 or so texts to various coworkers in the field. I do not typically use gps or location. On the rare occasion that I do, they definitely hammer the battery. Again, I don't do it that often but when I do it seems to be about 10-15% an hr drain. But I had the same results with my DNA. The Battery charges in only a few hrs time too, so long as I use the included LG charger. I'm happy with both the battery and charge time. I'm probably just the average user but you do have the option of swapping out a fresh battery if you use Gps/location or need 6 -7 hrs screen time. The stock keyboard isn't as good as my swiftkey version I ran on the DNA (as far as word and spelling prediction and I do miss the arrow keys - arrow keys are a long press of the space bar and then slide) but it's fine and I love that I can adjust the size of the keys in portrait mode. They are huge. I like the LG skin. Some extras I use, some I don't. Personal preferences. In all honesty sometimes there is a slight pause/"lag" switching from app to app but it's barely a second, maybe less. If you had the same experience on the DNA that I had, you will notice it but its not really a big deal. The DNA was just a beast that didn't get enough recognition because of it being a Verizon exclusive and not really pushed. What I don't miss about the DNA is the on again off again SIM card error BS that got better with updates but always reared it's head now and again. The G3's WiFi and network signal is stronger than I had with the DNA. I have an otter box symmetry case with a zagg tempered glass shield. Love the grip, protection, just the right thickness for me and the feel of the glass shield is great and easy to keep clean. I have found the occasional need to press a tad longer/harder/a second time on the screen in some apps with the zagg on. To me it's worth it and it's not that often just trying to lay it all out there in this novel. It may even be me tapping too quickly or missing the spot because I'm not looking at where I'm tapping or just the app itself but I never noticed it in the first month I had the phone without the zagg. Its minimal. The volume is plenty loud enough for earpiece and external speaker. Bluethooth works well for me. I have 3 different speakers plus 2 vehicles and never had connection issues. Oh, I'm completely stock. I disabled some bloat/pre-installed apps that I'll never use. No issues noted in performance to the negative. If you didn't fall asleep, I Hope I helped.
 

psychotron

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Glad to see someone has already asked this question. I went into the store today to look at phones as mine is not going to last much longer. I had pretty much made up my mind before I went in that the S5 was going to be it, but I was drawn to the G3 and the more I fiddled with it the more intrigued I became. The only question was how it was going to hold up long term as I plan to keep it for at least 18 months.
 

Rizz1-2

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I also have the G3 on Verizon and came from the DNA. I loved the DNA but shattered my screen. I decided to try this instead of screen repair. I really enjoy the G3. Even more than the DNA. The added screen size is definitely a big plus to me. I find the battery is fine. Typically get 4 hours of screen time with approx 40 % left at the end of a 16 hour day. That is a mix of email, 2 hrs of blue tooth music to a speaker in car (to and from work), checking sports apps for news etc, a few videos here and there and streaming 2 hrs of espn radio every morning while at work. Plus approx 25 or so texts to various coworkers in the field. I do not typically use gps or location. On the rare occasion that I do, they definitely hammer the battery. Again, I don't do it that often but when I do it seems to be about 10-15% an hr drain. But I had the same results with my DNA. The Battery charges in only a few hrs time too, so long as I use the included LG charger. I'm happy with both the battery and charge time. I'm probably just the average user but you do have the option of swapping out a fresh battery if you use Gps/location or need 6 -7 hrs screen time. The stock keyboard isn't as good as my swiftkey version I ran on the DNA (as far as word and spelling prediction and I do miss the arrow keys - arrow keys are a long press of the space bar and then slide) but it's fine and I love that I can adjust the size of the keys in portrait mode. They are huge. I like the LG skin. Some extras I use, some I don't. Personal preferences. In all honesty sometimes there is a slight pause/"lag" switching from app to app but it's barely a second, maybe less. If you had the same experience on the DNA that I had, you will notice it but its not really a big deal. The DNA was just a beast that didn't get enough recognition because of it being a Verizon exclusive and not really pushed. What I don't miss about the DNA is the on again off again SIM card error BS that got better with updates but always reared it's head now and again. The G3's WiFi and network signal is stronger than I had with the DNA. I have an otter box symmetry case with a zagg tempered glass shield. Love the grip, protection, just the right thickness for me and the feel of the glass shield is great and easy to keep clean. I have found the occasional need to press a tad longer/harder/a second time on the screen in some apps with the zagg on. To me it's worth it and it's not that often just trying to lay it all out there in this novel. It may even be me tapping too quickly or missing the spot because I'm not looking at where I'm tapping or just the app itself but I never noticed it in the first month I had the phone without the zagg. Its minimal. The volume is plenty loud enough for earpiece and external speaker. Bluethooth works well for me. I have 3 different speakers plus 2 vehicles and never had connection issues. Oh, I'm completely stock. I disabled some bloat/pre-installed apps that I'll never use. No issues noted in performance to the negative. If you didn't fall asleep, I Hope I helped.

Thanks! Very insightful. It sounds like the battery will be fine for me. I am not a power user. I average maybe 2 hours of screen on time a day. I also agree about the DNA. It really is a fantastic phone. Do you use swiftkey on the G3? I thought I read somewhere that they don't work well together.
 

beagle82

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I also read that somewhere months ago. I haven't even downloaded it onto the phone. The stock keyboard works good enough for me.
Been using SwiftKey from day one on my G3. No issues here
Thanks! Very insightful. It sounds like the battery will be fine for me. I am not a power user. I average maybe 2 hours of screen on time a day. I also agree about the DNA. It really is a fantastic phone. Do you use swiftkey on the G3? I thought I read somewhere that they don't work well together.
 

xocomaox

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Glad to see someone has already asked this question. I went into the store today to look at phones as mine is not going to last much longer. I had pretty much made up my mind before I went in that the S5 was going to be it, but I was drawn to the G3 and the more I fiddled with it the more intrigued I became. The only question was how it was going to hold up long term as I plan to keep it for at least 18 months.

This is a 2 year phone IMO. Unless you do not handle phones with care.. But a decent case should solve your unsteady or uncaring hand if that is an issue.
 

Jezza819

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I've had mine since the end of September and for the most part I've been very satisfied with it. I go at least two days on the battery but I'm a very light phone user, no music, no streaming video, no games, etc.

I know one thing and that is I will never have a phone any larger than this. With a case on it it's just about all I can handle one handed. Somebody asked about Swiftkey earlier, I've been using Swiftkey since I got mine with no issues at all.

The one glaring negative I have about this phone is with the video camera. I specifically got this phone early because I knew I had two or three concerts to go to along with some other events and wanted a better phone to capture some video with. The issue is with the audio on playback. Once you start recording and the camera is at it's default distance everything is fine, the audio is ok. But once you try to zoom the camera in even just a little bit, the audio goes all distorted and muffled. It's like the audio is somehow tied into the video focus. But once the video camera gets focused the audio is still messed up. Nobody has any idea how to fix this. I've posted it in several forums, including here, Verizon has no idea, LG has no idea, nobody. It's extremely annoying to be stuck having to record something from farther away than necessary just to have decent audio.
 

erwaso

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i had my LG Optimus G for 2 years before movig to the G3. If the parts manufacturer changed for LG then this doesnt matter, but my G held up great against physical abuse running case-less which led me to not worry about the G3 durability.

Overall the phone is fast, smooth and lasts much longer than my old G and that was with ECO mode runnning all the time. I almost just got a G2 but glad i didn't.

Go for the G3
 

erwaso

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The one glaring negative I have about this phone is with the video camera. I specifically got this phone early because I knew I had two or three concerts to go to along with some other events and wanted a better phone to capture some video with. The issue is with the audio on playback. Once you start recording and the camera is at it's default distance everything is fine, the audio is ok. But once you try to zoom the camera in even just a little bit, the audio goes all distorted and muffled. It's like the audio is somehow tied into the video focus. But once the video camera gets focused the audio is still messed up. Nobody has any idea how to fix this. I've posted it in several forums, including here, Verizon has no idea, LG has no idea, nobody. It's extremely annoying to be stuck having to record something from farther away than necessary just to have decent audio.

Odd, i'll have to try this out and see if mine does the same.

So start recording, then zoom in then out and see if the audio is messed up during playback?
 

xocomaox

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I've had mine since the end of September and for the most part I've been very satisfied with it. I go at least two days on the battery but I'm a very light phone user, no music, no streaming video, no games, etc.

I know one thing and that is I will never have a phone any larger than this. With a case on it it's just about all I can handle one handed. Somebody asked about Swiftkey earlier, I've been using Swiftkey since I got mine with no issues at all.

The one glaring negative I have about this phone is with the video camera. I specifically got this phone early because I knew I had two or three concerts to go to along with some other events and wanted a better phone to capture some video with. The issue is with the audio on playback. Once you start recording and the camera is at it's default distance everything is fine, the audio is ok. But once you try to zoom the camera in even just a little bit, the audio goes all distorted and muffled. It's like the audio is somehow tied into the video focus. But once the video camera gets focused the audio is still messed up. Nobody has any idea how to fix this. I've posted it in several forums, including here, Verizon has no idea, LG has no idea, nobody. It's extremely annoying to be stuck having to record something from farther away than necessary just to have decent audio.

I have not experienced any issues with muffled or distorted audio on videos.