Need your expert advice about choosing a phone s3 in 2014???

[itic]

Re: Will I be happy with a s3?

If you plan on sticking with VM id suggest looking at the htc and lg offerings before going with either the s3 or 4. TW + the carrier junk will make the phone slow and buggy. If your willing to change carriers the motorola moto g lte and moto x are nice

 

[NeonZX]

The S3 is still a very capable phone, but as for speed improvements and better camera and the latest Os, then perhaps the S4 is the way to go and yes $100 more is worth it

The performance between the s3 and s4 is very small. S4 has slightly more features but not worth $100

 

[LightaDroid]

The S3 is still a very capable phone, but as for speed improvements and better camera and the latest Os, then perhaps the S4 is the way to go and yes $100 more is worth it considering you will be getting decent specs and improved camera, along with a few other gimmicks that you may or may not find useful.

There are alternatives such as the..

LG G2 or perhaps the Nexus 5 or Moto X.

I will mention the one +1 but as of yet it's not available outside an invite system. But will be worth perhaps waiting for.

The choice is yours, have a look around and see what fits in terms of what you require and read a few reviews and compare.

Hope this helps.

The One plus is $300 for the 16gb variant and $350 for the 64gb I think if my memory serves me well.

Posted via Android Central App

Agreed!!

Posted from Google Nexus 5

 

[Ashley Johnson6]

Thank you for all the great recommendations. My husband really would rather me stay with our current provider( virgin mobile) so my options are very limited. I'd love to get the new s5 but just can't bring myself to spend $660 on a phone that my 2 yr old will no doubt throw on the floor at some point. So it's either stick with my iPhone 4s or get a cheap new ($200) galaxy s3 and wait a year or so for them to have a sale
On the s5. If I switch to the s3 I feel like I'm honestly still getting a upgrade over my iphone because of everything the s3 does thT my 4s can't do. Like play Pokemon! Because that's important lol

 

[JeffDenver]

So what do you guys think? Would I be just as happy with a s3 as a 4? Coming from a iPhone 4s will I be happy with the speed of the s3?

My advice is to leave Samsung...you can get way better phones for that price right now. For $300 you could get a Moto X, Nexus 5, or OnePlus...any of which will be significantly better than the S3 and better than the S4 in most ways.

This is what the Nexus 5 performs like compared to the iPhone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI8snnLpEDE

The Nexus 5 is really the only Android phone that will be as fast and smooth as the iPhone IMO. The Moto X is as smooth, but not as fast. The One Plus is as fast but not as smooth.

The good news is that iPhones tend to retain their value well...so you can probably recover most of the $500 you spent on it. The only real advantage Samsung phones have is SD expansion and battery removal...unless you are married to those two things, I would dump Samsung and move to something better.

 

[anon(8730639)]

First of all, don't get either. S3 was fantastic on release, but it's now ancient and definitely won't be getting any more software updates. S4 isn't that big of an improvement over the S3. Samsung devices are generally fine for people who want lots of gimmicky features, but besides that, there are other devices with faster updates, better hardware, better software, better performance, all for less or around the same price. The Moto G has fast updates and performs really well and can be found for under $200. Moto X also has the fast updates, etc. of the G, but has better hardware and a few really useful features (like Google Voice Search without touching your phone) and is usually around $350 brand new. Nexus 4 is a great device from late 2012 and is dirt cheap on eBay (around the same as the S3, but I've found it for far cheaper than the S3 you mentioned). HTC One M7 can be found used for $350 or less if you do some hunting. The Nexus 5 and OnePlus One are high end devices that can be found brand new for $350. All of these devices are a far better value than a new S3 or a used S4, so get one of these instead.

 

[ffejjj]

After all the problems my daughter has with her S3 I would never recommend one

Sent from my HTCONE using AC Forums mobile app

 

[JeffDenver]

I don't know whether I would pay that much cash for a telephone that is two eras behind and basically outdated.

My BF has one. It is only one upgrade behind mine and is slated to get 4.4.2 soon.

After modifying the developer options in settings, I have actually found it to be fast and smooth and reliable. In Developer options you can force the GPU to render the UI. It's not quite as fast and smooth as my nexus 5, but for a device 2 generations behind it is quite snappy. The only real downside to it at all is the battery life.

 

[Aquila]

Of the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Moto X, Moto G, Moto E, LG G2, LG G3, HTC One M7 & HTC One M8... which ones are lower priced devices that have an SD card, great camera and removable/swappable batteries?

 

[anon(8730639)]

Of the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Moto X, Moto G, Moto E, LG G2, LG G3, HTC One M7 & HTC One M8... which ones are lower priced devices that have an SD card, great camera and removable/swappable batteries?

Only the Moto G, E, LG G2 (international only), G3 (for sure on the international version, unknown for US carrier versions), and M8 have micro SD card slots. The international G2 and G3 have removable batteries as well. The Motos and Nexus 4 don't have very good cameras, the Nexus 5 is fine with stills and great for video, the M7 and M8 are both decent cameras, and the G2 and G3 are some of the best camera phones that you can get. The M8 and G3 are new devices and are therefore extremely expensive off contract, but the rest are easy to find for $400 or less (new or used depends on the device). I'd say if those things are important to you, the international G2 is the only one that has all of those and isn't super expensive, so see if you can get one in your price range.

 

[Ashley Johnson6]

My main problem is needing to stay on virgin mobile. My husbands has the s3 and it has been a solid phone for him. The camera takes better pictures imo than my iPhone 4s and I really only use my phone to text, and browse Facebook Instagram and the web. No gaming and no heavy multi tasking.

Serious question though. Do you it's really think virgin mobile sells refurbished phones as new?

 

[anon(8730639)]

My main problem is needing to stay on virgin mobile. My husbands has the s3 and it has been a solid phone for him. The camera takes better pictures imo than my iPhone 4s and I really only use my phone to text, and browse Facebook Instagram and the web. No gaming and no heavy multi tasking.

Serious question though. Do you it's really think virgin mobile sells refurbished phones as new?

I'm not very familiar with Virgin Mobile (never really found a reason to use it over other phone companies), but it all depends on if they let you bring your own device or not. If they make you use Virgin phones and you don't have the option of using other phones, then I guess the S3 will be fine for you. The S4 has been described as the S4s (as in iPhone 4s or 5s, very small improvements) and if you're not a power user, then just go for the S3. However, if any of the phones that I listed above are available for you to get and use on Virgin, then I'd say use one of those instead.