Galaxy S3 vs. Droid Razr Maxx HD - Which should I get?

[KSChris]

Don't know where to post this, so I'm asking both forums... I'm really torn. I've got an iPhone 4S right now, and the main reason I got an iPhone was for the battery life.. but that has started to not be so good with some recent updates. So I'm headed back to Android, and I've settled on one of these phones.

From what I can tell, I love the features of the Galaxy S3. It seems jam-packed with cool features, and has a giant screen. On the other hand, I don't know about the plastic build of it... I feel like if I dropped it once, it would shatter. Is this the case?

On the other end of things, the Razr Maxx HD has that amazing 3300 mAh battery, which is the primary reason I'm even switching from iPhone in either case.. and the build quality seems second to none as far as android phones go. It's right up there with the solid premium phone feel of iPhones, and even kind of resembles the design. However, the features and camera aren't really up to par with the S3. And from what I can tell, the on-screen virtual buttons rather than capacitive buttons off-screen, take away from the advertised 4.7" screen real estate..

I need some advice from S3 and Maxx HD owners.

Keep in mind that I am a pretty heavy phone user. Text, facebook, email, apps like Flipboard and Tapatalk, and streaming iHeartRadio/Spotify/Pandora/etc
.
S3: How is the battery life? Can you get a full day's use out of a charge on medium-to-heavy use? Is the phone durable?

Maxx HD: Is the camera really as bad as reviewed? I'm not a particularly heavy phone-camera user, but I don't really know how bad of a camera I should be expecting here... and is the battery as good as advertised?

And since I've been away from Android since the HTC Thunderbolt.. what is this Google Now thing? Is that available (once Jelly Bean comes) on both phones?

And if there are any issues you're experiencing, and would like to point me in the other direction or something, speak up on that as well. I welcome all advice here. Really torn, as I like both phones, and don't know which to get.

 

[mvnguyen03]

I have an S3 so here's my take on it. I love my S3 except for touchwiz. I flashed CM10 and have been happy ever since. As far as build quality (I came from an I phone 4), there is a "plasticky" feel to the phone (probably due to the fact that you can remove the back) but with a case on you don't notice it. Battery life is not too bad. You can probably get at least 11?12 hours from it depending on if your using wifi when available, how often you check email, leaving bluetooth and GPS on, etc. I have kids and they love playing games on it, so I had to get an extended battery (they were completely draining my battery in 6-7 hours). That said, I after playing with my friends RAZRs, I want one, but I'm on AT&T and have unlimited data. I'm hoping Motorola releases the RAZR for AT&T someday soon though.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Android Central Forums

 

[Who?]

Who cares about the features a phone has if your battery is dead or you have to shut off the features because you're worried about battery life.

Coming from a Thunderbolt, you and I both know that there's little that's more important than battery life.

Also, there's already a whole thread about this. Use the search function or just browse through; this isn't a massively active forum.

 

[rbess1965]

Had a Maxx for about 8 months and now on an Maxx HD. To me all of these phones have similar enough features that you should always choose the best hardware for you. If 2gb of ram and an awesome camera suits you, go GSIII. If battery that lasts 24hrs+ & exceptionally solid build quality is more important, the MaxxHD is unmatched.

Sent using the Amazing RAZR MaxxHD

 

[KSChris]

How important is the RAM?

If I go Razr, I don't want to be stuck with a dud in a year when every new phone is quad-core and apps are all optimized for that.

 

[jroc]

How important is the RAM?

If I go Razr, I don't want to be stuck with a dud in a year when every new phone is quad-core and apps are all optimized for that.

The RAM is an interesting topic. I have read that Touchwiz on the GS3 is more bloated than Blur on the RAZR HD, Maxx HD. So the GS3 might have needed it more than the HD's. Blur is getting so close to stock Android its really getting hard to tell the 2 apart.

As for being optimized for quad core.....most apps arent even optimized for dual core yet...lol.

The camera on the HD might can be made better with apps from the Play Store.

Touchwiz does have some nice UI features. I'm one of the few that actually like the manufacture's UI's.

Battery life can also be affected by the phone searching for and holding on to a signal. Not wanting to get into the details....but I feel Moto has the edge for reception.

It just depends on your wants n needs. You can buy an extended battery for the GS3. It is really gonna be hard to get unbiased posts from either side...lol. And I do not like the on screen keys on my Maxx HD.

 

[PsYcHoNeWb]

Here is the skinny, I have had both and loved both. There are multiple reasons why you could like one over the other but here is what you are looking for...

Camera - S3 hands down. Motorola has never been good with cameras and in fact I don't think they ever will. Period. If you want a phone and a camera is a major issue for you, get the S3. If you are like myself where you can deal with or without a great camera then its a toss up.

Battery Life - MAXX HD all the way. Even when I had AOSP ROMs with custom kernels on my S3 nothing could match the battery life on the MAXX HD. Even during the hurricane on the east coast where I had no cable for WiFi and relied solely on 4G it lasted me a good day and half to 2 days depending on usage. If I had WiFi I would easily get 2-2.5 days with my normal usage. I never had an issue getting a full day use of my S3, but by the end of the day I was down to 10-15%. With AOSP based ROMs that improved but with my normal usage (1.5-2h screen on time) it was around 30-40% by 11pm.

Hardware - Really this is gonna be a toss up. Both phones work exceptionally well for what they are given. If you have no desire to root/hack your phone then get the MAXX HD. This is a lot closer to AOSP and will result in fewer bugs and slightly less lag. I have noticed slight lag on both the S3 and MAXX HD using their stock configurations but I have come to accept that as a part of the software, not hardware. If you plant to hack your device and install custom ROMs on it, get the S3. Much more dev support and you will be able to make it fly.

Screen - S3 screen is gorgeous there is no doubting that but after 2 weeks now with the MAXX HD it believe its a good counterpart. While it may not be as nice, it still ranks up there with the big boys now that they have tweaked the pentile displays. Only notice pixels on really dim settings.

 

[rolo99]

I have had the Razr Maxx HD for 24 hours. My husband has had the S3 for about a month. I came from a Thunderbolt. He had an iphone 4. We've essentially switched places in terms of whose phone is constantly on a charger. Yesterday I texted him that after 8.5 hours off the charger, my phone battery was at 86%. He said his phone had been off the charger for 7.5 hours and had 25% of the battery left. His phone can't make it through a whole day. One of his co-workers has an S3 that's always on a charger too. I'm giving him my old TB chargers (it's quite a collection!) since I won't be needing them.

I don't care so much about the camera as the battery life. Like someone else said, "who cares about the camera if you have a dead phone?"

 

[Megaroad]

I got my RAZR MAXX HD a few days ago. Here are my impressions:

First, a slight problem: I'm probably going to exchange it for another MAXX HD because on mine the metal side of the phone near the volume button isn't smoothly aligned with the plastic. It sticks out a little bit. I'm anal about stuff like that on a new toy, and since I'm going to have this at least two years, I think I should have a perfect one to begin with. But I assume an exchange will solve that.

I might say as a result of that, that the quality of the materials of this phone are vastly superior to the GSIII, but the build quality may have flaws, so you should examine your new phone in the store to make sure it's nicely built. It's a little thicker and noticeably heavier than the SIII, but on the other hand its dimensions are slightly smaller.

Okay, on to other stuff:

The battery life on the MAXX HD is truly outstanding. I don't think I'll ever run out of battery in the middle of a day with this phone. In fact, I unplugged it at like 6 AM yesterday morning, used it light-to-moderately at work and in the evening (text messages, a little web browsing, playing some games of Chess, etc), did NOT charge it last night, and today at 11 AM it's still at 51%. That's almost 30 hours on one charge and it's just half done. You may use yours more heavily than I did yesterday, but it's a great battery and will last you through the day.

For most purposes the screen truly is smaller than the SIII's because of the on-screen buttons. I'm on the lookout for when a mod comes out to make the buttons smaller or something, but in the meantime there's no way around the fact that when you're web browsing and stuff you've got a smaller useable screen space. So you have to be okay with that to pick this phone. One downside is, with Chrome I noticed that web pages will sometimes open as if the buttons aren't there, so that part of the web page is hidden behind the buttons. If you do a slight pinch on the screen it'll resize the web page appropriately so that its boundries will take into account where the buttons are. I image Google will update Chrome at some point to account for on-screen buttons, since they are the ones promoting the use of both those buttons and Chrome.

However, I will say the experience of using the on-screen buttons is pleasant. They are closer to the area you're using, so they are easy to reach when using the phone with one hand, and it makes the experience of using the phone feel smooth somehow. I haven't had any problems pushing them accidentally, and it's a nice touch how the icons rotate in place when you switch to landscape so that they are always facing the right way (I'm not saying buttons themselves move, just the icons turn). I enjoy this setup more than I was expecting. It is implemented well. It also makes the surface of the phone look cool, because it's all smooth with no buttons on it. So if you care about stuff like that, it's a plus. Also, Google is probably going to be adding some functionality around on-screen keys that will only be available to phones that are designed that way, so that's a factor - for example, in 4.2 I believe swiping up form the onscreen home key will open Google Now - other phones won't be able to do that, but the MAXX HD will.

They screen quality seems excellent to me. It's very sharp, with vibrant colors. I know it's supposedly oversaturated, but perfect color fidelity doesn't seem like an important thing on a smartphone screen to me. Text and icons look great on the screen, and it's very bright. No complaints about the screen as far as quality.

One of my favorite things about the phone is what Motorola has done with the software. Swipe-to-left for quick settings is a nice modification imo, and they did a good job with their keyboard too. The keys are a little more square than most Android keyboards, which I think makes accurate typing easier. The Circles widget is also very nice - the clock (which also shows incoming text messages and calls) can be tapped to bring up alarm clock settings, the weather can be tapped to bring up detailed weather without opening a web browser, and it also gives you the battery life in percentage format, which is fun when you've got a phone with a powerhouse battery. I think this widget actually adds something special to the experience of using the phone.

The experience of scrolling around the phone is good, but not perfectly smoothly. It can be just slightly jerky at times. I assume this will be solved with Jelly Bean, which I think is coming out soon, since they just started rolling it out for the Razr M.

I haven't really used the camera yet, so IDK about that.

I'm going to the store today to make the exchange for another MAXX HD because of my problem with the metal on the one I got, and I presumably have the option to switch to an SIII, but I'm going to stick with the MAXX HD because of the battery life, the build materials, and the software design.

 

[myotherbrotherdarrell]

The RAM is an interesting topic. I have read that Touchwiz on the GS3 is more bloated than Blur on the RAZR HD, Maxx HD. So the GS3 might have needed it more than the HD's. Blur is getting so close to stock Android its really getting hard to tell the 2 apart.

As for being optimized for quad core.....most apps arent even optimized for dual core yet...lol.

The camera on the HD might be can made better with apps from the Play Store.

Touchwiz does have some nice UI features. I'm one of the few that actually like the manufacture's UI's.

Battery life can also be affected by the phone searching for and holding on to a signal. Not wanting to get into the details....but I feel Moto has the edge for reception.

It just depends on what you wants n needs. You can buy an extended battery for the GS3. It is really gonna be hard to get unbiased posts from either side...lol. And I do not like the on screen keys on my Maxx HD.

My tablet is quad core and it doesn't feel any faster than my Razr HD Mazz.
If anything my HD Maxx feels faster.

 

[steve0617]

I went back and forth on what to choose to replace my Thunderbolt. Unlike lots of people, I've never had any problems other than battery life on 4G with the 'Bolt. (Bamf Forever probably helped though).

What others have said is the same conclusions I came to:

S3: light, huge screen that's slightly better than the Razr, touchwiz is meh for a power user, battery life is a question while all day on 4G, potential radio strength issues, terrific camera

Razr Maxx: thicker feeling, almost as close screen quality, camera quality is not as good (but still good enough for a casual shooter), FANTASTIC battery life, potentially better signal strength in modest areas, Blur is a nice skin.

In the end, I went with the Razr Maxx. Mostly because of battery life. I was sick and tired of babying my phone with Juice Defender or turning down the screen, or eliminating widgets or notifications or whatever just to conserve battery.

Also, in the Verizon store I went to, their 4g signal in the store wasn't that strong. The very nice sales woman showed me her personal S3. The brightness was at maybe 15% (e.g. you could barely see it). She said she had to do that to get a day out of the phone when she was at work. She also said, for her when she had a Droid X, she'd go back to Moto if the Maxx HD was out when she got her S3 over the summer.

That was enough for me. I wanted battery life. Period.

I've got the Maxx going with everything on I want, including the circle widgets on, the brightness up, 4G always (didn't even install Phone Info to be able to turn off 4g) on etc. I no longer have to manage the battery or carry a charger/extra one/use an extended battery.

I'm happy.

 

[hossman12]

I am more than satisfied with my S3s battery life. Ive been using the screen fairly bright all day and have watched my share of videos. Mosyly web browsing snd texting though... as well as social apps.

17 hours on battery since last charge and still have 20%.

Im happy with it

Sent from my SCH-R530M using Android Central Forums

 

[dirkbonn]

I purchased a Maxx HD about 3 weeks ago after having a Droid X for almost 2-1/2 years. The X was the best smartphone I ever had and was worried that no matter what phone I got, it would have some big shoes to fill. Well, so far I haven't been dissapointed. The battery is a beast. Nothing more need be said about that. The screen is great, but afterall, I 'm comparing it to the X. For me, the phone is plenty fast. Now, the camera. No question it's not the best camera in a phone out there. But it's ok. My wifes iPhone is better and it appears the S3 is supperior also, but for me, it's a phone first, web surfer and app platform second and a camera third. Afterall, how many cameras can you buy that can make phone calls too? If your priority is top flight pictures, either get a camera or if your camera must double as a phone, get an iPhone or an S3.

But for me, it the Razr Maxx HD all the way.

 

[Megaroad]

An update: I mentioned earlier in the thread that I was going to have my MAXX HD replaced because of a build-quality issue with the metal band near the volume control...I did get a replacement, and although it's better, it's still has a slight imperfection there. I actually had the guy at the store open up a few different boxes (he was very nice and accommodating about it) and they all had this issue to some degree or another. Also, the way the different pieces of metal meet up at the corners isn't perfect. This supports my notion that although this phone is made of really nice materials, the build quality is a little suspect. It's not a big deal as long as it doesn't lead to durability issues over the lifespan of the phone. I think I'm going to stick with it because I like the overall design of the phone and love the battery life. It still feels like more of a top-shelf gadget than the SIII because of the materials and design, but I can't say I'm 100% satisfied with the way the phone was assembled.

 

[KSChris]

Any lag in the animations or swiping from page to page?

 

[Megaroad]

Any lag in the animations or swiping from page to page?

Page-to-page seems smooth. Sometimes there some slight jerkiness when scrolling up and down on one page, like in settings. It doesn't have Project Butter yet though, which will supposedly fix that.

 

[KSChris]

Is that in the jelly bean update?

 

[Megaroad]

Is that in the jelly bean update?

Yeah, it is. Of course we have no way of knowing whether it'll make it perfect. Now that you mention it, there is sometimes a very slight hitch when scrolling between screens. It's extremely slight.

 

[jdk2]

Any lag on the Maxx HD is slight and disappears very quickly. There's a bit of lag on the S III as well when scrolling horizontally. Touchwiz seems to be a bit on the heavy side and doesn't benefit from the 2GB of ram as much as many think it should.

 

[Megaroad]

One thing I didn't mention is, the speaker is very good. I was using it for turn by turn directions in the car today, and it was very loud and clear. Also tested it out with music videos on youtube, and it was very good for a cell phone speaker.