New to Android: G3, S5 or M8?

[GSOAT]

(sorry I posted this anonymously by accident- wasn't logged in- so I'm reposting under my username)
Hi everyone, I am an iPhone user (for years), and when my contract expires early next month, I'm committed to getting an Android phone- either the Samsung Galaxy S5, the HTC One M8 or the LG G3 (I'm open to other suggestions- I'm an AT&T guy). I have been devouring reviews for a couple of weeks, and while it seems that I can't go wrong, I realize that as an Android-inexperienced user, I might be a different animal.

I understand the strengths and weaknesses from the reviews. I have literally gone from Samsung to HTC to LG in the past 5 days, and I'm likely to keep vacillating for weeks to come! I value screen size, battery life, ease of use, durability, camera quality, and flexibility, so this is a tough decision.

So to you veteran Android folks, which model would you recommend to an Android neophyte, and why?

Thanks in advance!

 

[codyoehl]

Well I'll talk about my phone, the S5

It's a great phone, here are some pros and cons
Pros:
Good camera
Pretty good size (5.1 inches)
Removable battery
SD card slot
Fingerprint scanner
Physical home button (which I personally like)
Water resistant (never tested it, but it gives me piece of mind)
Fast charging (I'm impressed by it)

Cons:
Laggy (touchwiz)
Slow updates
Heart rate monitor doesn't seem to work (in my experience)
Speaker on back and not that loud (though I haven't compared it to anything)

Middle ground:
Battery - pretty good depending on how you use it. I can drain my battery like crazy when the screen is full brightness (it's like insane).

Plastic - I personally like the look of it (on the back) and it allows for you to take the back off your phone

Just so you know, I actually am planning on switching to a different manufacturer. I'm tired of the lag on the S5, I'm thinking about either the M8 or the Sony Xperia Z3. That's not to deter you from getting the S5, but I'd thought I'd let you know.

Posted via Android Central App with my Samsung Galaxy S5

 

[GSOAT]

Thank you!

 

[jps1012#AC]

I am interested in this too. Exact same position as OP

 

[GSOAT]

Just FYI, I'm getting a sense that the HTC, Samsung and LG models' "skins" (modifications to the base Android OS) are really annoying and should be avoided. Maybe most people here are Android purists (and "power users") who want a clean experience that you and I may not want/need, but people keep mentioning the Moto X (and the soon to be released X+1), and the Google Nexus 5 (and the hopefully soon to be released Nexus 6) as better alternatives to the big three flagships because they run something close to "stock Android".

 

[sydneycooper1979]

I actually prefer the HTC skin over stock android for the most part. It is the most fluid and refined skin out of the three. It never lags. Like ever.

 

[sydneycooper1979]

Also the battery on the m8 is awesome and the build quality is great not to mention the boom sound speakers.

 

[ffejjj]

I'm very happy with my G3

Posted via Android Central App

 

[ecjd]

Coming from an iPhone, I chose an M8.

The speakers are awesome. Sense (HTC Android Skin) is awesome and a great addition. The build quality is what stood out to me, it feels solid and looks awesome.

 

[VW Maverick]

I'm very happy with my G3.

As am I. Fantastic device.

Mav.

Sent from the future on my Sprint Tri-Band LG G3.

 

[KeepItReal]

I currently have the LG G3. Most specs between the flagship phone's are much the same, quad core, high Ghz processors (one may be slightly more powerful than other...the G2 had the processor already that the S5 uses now). All the skins on top of each, while possibly adding to slight performance lags from time to time, all are mostly mature in their implementation (yes, rooters, I understand your quest for purity...lol). Even the encasements, metal, plastic, etc...meet the minimum requirements to either make the phone look good, and keep it relatively strong enough to resist just being crushed in your hands. Battery life is sometimes in the eye of the beholder. Just give me a day! ! All the flagship phone have that at a minimum. There may even be discussions about quality of antennas and signal strength, but again, all will make quality calls, connect to 4G for most users. The Flagships all have a Quick Window, Smart Window, Dot Case type case where you can perform some functions from the front the device, without opening the flap

Some of the the differences are down to: HTC M8 speakers are phenomenal for a phone, metal case (see Android Forum article, dropped 17 times), G3 phenomenal screen. S5 is nice, but that overly saturated colors is too much for me, but water resistant is a nice feature.

Now comes the big differences, too much to discuss in this post will be the camera's. This may be your deciding point. Would be nice to have a side by side technical post of pixels, lense type, shutter speed/type, lighting requirements (low level vs), and the editing software (S5 has some awesome editing tools) etc. I think your camera needs could become a significant decision maker in the purchasing decision. The camera implementation are all different on the Flagship phone's.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Kristi McCraney]

I've never owned a lg, that's the only one I can't give an opinion on, had iphone 5s, and HTC one, HTC one x+, HTC inspire, galaxy s2, and Nokia 1020. (I think that's it) my last choice was the galaxy s5. the main reason I went with it was cause of the water proof. I've had water accidents in the past when phones never recovered. I've noticed lags with every phone I've ever had. In my opinion that just happens over time, even with the iPhone 5s. I just back stuff up and do factory resets. The HTC one had great speaker but honestly I hardly used it. Only when I want to show someone else a video is when I miss them. I will admit the speakers on my s5 are worse than the iphone. But I'm usually wearing my tones or have it blue toothed to my jam box.... I think with any choice you make, you with have your pros and cons from each device. But I can say out of all my phone the only two I hated and couldn't use very long was my iPhone and windows phone. So I think that was more of an operating system issue. My iPhone I felt bored with the set up. No widgets or picture slide shows for my background. And with windows I hated the limitations on apps.... the only thing I know bad for the lg, is I live in a rural area, so service is hard to get. With my galaxy I get one bar but my friend who has the lg, has to step outside to make calls.... hope this helps. I know how it feels so make a bad choice on a phone.

Posted via the Android Central App