Which phone should a BlackBerry user get?

[aloomis76]

So I need to qualify and say that I am predominantly a BlackBerry user. Have been for many years and many phones. That being said, Sprint is not offering the phone I thought I wanted and so I have been looking more and more at moving over to Android as my OS of choice. This is where I thought I would reach out for help. I have been a Mobile Nations "lurker" for easily the last 5 or so years but have become a bit more active in the forums and blog posts. This is surprisingly my first AC forum post (I believe) but I love going through the forums and reading all about the tech and enjoy this community from afar you could say. I am a nerd. That's ok to say. I embrace it lol. I hate using the words "Tech Savvy" so I won't, but I can say that I can handle my own and know my way around an OS or two

So here I am, reaching out to not only the AC community but specifically Sprint users in hopes that your experiences can help me make a educated decision. So, if you will, what phones are you using? How do you like it? What are its disadvantages? What would you suggest a first time android user get? Why? These are just a few of the questions that I have and maybe with your help I can have a few more and maybe learn to ask the "right" questions to get what will work best for me. If you have questions for me to maybe see how I will be using a phone to help with your answers then feel free to fire them at me. I'll go on further to include some of the phones I am looking at and maybe why i am looking at them.

In order of preference at this point...(this could and maybe should change)

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - This looks like a beast of a phone and I figure go big or go home with this one am I right? lol The specs are great and it looks like a phone that will stand the long haul. The S-pen features intrigue me and I can see benefits to using it. My only negative for this is the current price. I know you get what you pay for but I was hoping to pay somewhere within the $250 or below range on contract. That extra $100 is a lot for a guy married with children lol

Moto X - I really am in love with this phone. I have done my reading ant think ultimately this will end up being the phone I get. I love that I can personalize it to my tastes and that it is almost a Nexus device with little tinkering to android on the whole. That being said, I do have some concerns with the storage space. I know sprint only offers the 16GB version but I was told that if I purchase the 32 GB version online from MotoMaker that it will work with sprint too. To me, this still seems like a tight fit. I like the ability to swap out SDCards. I understand I get 50 GB (I think) free cloud storage with this device and that sounds great but I think I need to do a bit more homework.

Samsung Galaxy S4 - This is almost a no brainer. I like this phone mostly because it is popular and I think that if I ever ran into any problems there is a huge community to help with support. The negative to this is I really don't find it that "sexy" and it just comes off at "cheap" to me. My opinion of course. I m also hearing bad things about the screen and burn-in and was wondering if anyone has experienced this. I'm open to learn more about this phone though.

HTC One - I like the build quality of this phone. Has a premium feel to it. I can't say too much either way only that I am unsure about the camera and the quality of pictures.

Nexus 5 - I have similar concerns about this one as I do with the Moto X and the storage capacity. Only difference with this one is I would have to pay the full price to get the 32 GB upgrade and then it starts to get out of my price range. If it is worth it though, I would pay.

LG G2 - At first glance I really like this phone. After playing with my friends' and also at the Sprint store, I have to say that I REALLY don't like the button placement. It is too weird for me and doesn't seem to flow and work with my hands (I have big hands) being in the back. I understand why it's there and I'm sure it has its advantages but I just don't know if it is for me. Maybe someone has some compelling info to make me want to get used to it?

Anywho, that's the short list lol If there is anything I missed please feel free to make suggestions. I NEED HELP hahaha

Oh yeah, maybe most important, I just want the darn thing to work. I'm open to rooting and doing whatever else I need to do to get the experience I may ultimately want in the future but to start out I just want a phone that can get the job done and work out of the box. After I am more comfortable using it then maybe I'll have to make another post or read up on taking the next step. As for now, I'm onlhy talking about overall enjoyment out of the box.

I look forward to interacting with you all some more and in the future. THANKS!!

 

[jsarino]

Here's my thoughts on each phone you're looking at, but before anyone else might blast me on this, remember, you all can give opinions on these phones too, your personal pluses and minuses. Hopefully this will help the OP on his decision.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3--this phone is a beast right out of the box. Has all the features I'd want, and for those spec fans out there, it flies. It even looks aesthetically nice, even with the faux stitching. However, it is a large phone...if you're comfortable with that, then this isn't an issue. Also, it still is carrying TouchWiz, and alot of redundant features and bloat. If you don't plan on rooting anytime soon, this may annoy you.

Moto X--just on the UI alone, this is a great phone. You can personalize it, feels and looks nice on your hand, get updates just as quickly as the Nexus series, has two features I'd use all the time (touchless control...even in sleep, active notifications), and really good battery life. What I don't like? Specs are mid-range, display could be better (only OLED), non-removable battery and no microSD slot, so-so camera, though the last update supposedly made it better. I myself had to decide between this one, the G2, and a phone I did choose from this list.

Samsung Galaxy S4--6+ months after release, this phone still sells like hotcakes, it's feature rich, good specs, and as the OP mentioned, has a huge dev community to tap to. However, it still looks cheapish, alot of features that most people won't use and is taking up precious storage space, that TouchWiz skin, wonky camera at times, screen that's all about over saturation (not my thing), and carrier bloat. Probably sits at the bottom of my list if I were choosing.

HTC One- beautiful upscale design, Beats Audio speakers that beats anything out there, palatable Sense UI, a screen that's "just right" IMO, specs that rivals the GS4, good low light camera. The bad? Camera isn't versatile (the limits of a 4 megapixel shooter), button setup at bottom of screen is odd, BlinkFeed could be argued that it's "bloaty". With rumors of the M8 swirling (Snapdragon 800 variant of the One), would you get this knowing a better version is coming very soon?

Nexus 5--this is the phone I settled on. I wanted the pure Google experience and excellent specs out of the box, and for the most part, this phone delivers. I also like the exclusivity of owning this phone, knowing that I'm not going to see this at every corner. Because at its core this is a dev phone, it's very easy to tinker with it, so I easily rooted and unlocked it right after I got it. Yes, like the Moto X, you have to contend with the non-removable battery and no microSD. Because of that, I did get the 32GB version, and nearly a month with the device, I'm at 20GB of free space left, only using around 5 GB (150 apps or so, and various pictures and vids). People have varying opinions on the camera...I found it works for my purposes just fine. I do wish it had RAW support and burst mode, but Google is addressing that and improving the stock camera app soon. As for the battery, I'm getting 20ish hours to a day's use (4-5 hours screen on time). It's not the best, but it's good enough for me.

LG G2--like the Note 3, a spectacular phone to consider. This is the phone the GS4 should've aspired to, IMO. Specs are where it should be (blazingly fast), excellent display (very close between it and the N5 on ppi), hands down the best Android camera out there that works in all conditions, feature set that's more function than gimmicky. What's the downside? It's pushing it in terms of size (it is 5.2 inches of screen after all), the button placement in the back may be a turn off for some people, bloatware galore, updates may be slower than the others.

There's my thoughts on each of these...hope it helps some.

 

[aloomis76]

Much appreciated and you gave me some more things to consider. Thanks a bunch.

Quick question...If in fact the Moto X and Nexus are so similar, in your opinion, would it be a fair trade off to go with the Moto X because of the price point alone? ($149 for the Moto X as opposed to $399 for the Nexus 5 in 32 GB versions)

 

[draconianchaos]

What capacity Moto X are you getting for that price?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[jsarino]

Quick question...If in fact the Moto X and Nexus are so similar, in your opinion, would it be a fair trade off to go with the Moto X because of the price point alone? ($149 for the Moto X as opposed to $399 for the Nexus 5 in 32 GB versions)

Assuming the Moto X at that price point is 32 GB, then based on that, I'd go with that phone.

Even Android Central proper (well, Alex Dobie anyways ) picked the Moto X as the best Android phone you can buy (The best Android phone you can buy, as of November 2013 | Android Central). It's arguably the most optimized software-wise phone of the crop, admittedly even ahead of the Nexus 5. I got to test drive a Moto X the other day, and I have to admit, it's a pleasant surprise to use.

 

[aloomis76]

What capacity Moto X are you getting for that price?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

32 GB

 

[aloomis76]

Assuming the Moto X at that price point is 32 GB, then based on that, I'd go with that phone.

Even Android Central proper (well, Alex Dobie anyways ) picked the Moto X as the best Android phone you can buy (The best Android phone you can buy, as of November 2013 | Android Central). It's arguably the most optimized software-wise phone of the crop, admittedly even ahead of the Nexus 5. I got to test drive a Moto X the other day, and I have to admit, it's a pleasant surprise to use.

More goodness to read. Thanks. I was recently at a Sprint store playing with everything they had there and the Moto X was the stand out...although they didn't have a Nexus on hand But again, at that price point I also thought it was a great choice...decisions decisions...:-X

 

[SactoKingsFan]

Last month I was considering the Moto X, GS4 and LG G2.

Almost picked the Moto X due to active notifications, touchless controls and near stock Android (simple & looks good) . The camera issues, however, pushed me towards the GS4 and G2.

The removable battery and SD slot of the S4 are great features, but I ended up getting the G2 due to the amazing specs. The G2 has a brilliant screen, impressive battery, great camera (better than S4) and charges super fast.

The Moto X would be a good choice if you want a simple UI and like the few unique features. The G2 would be the way to go if you want the features of the S4, but want better specs or just don't like something about the S4.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[aloomis76]

Last month I was considering the Moto X, GS4 and LG G2.

Almost picked the Moto X due to active notifications, touchless controls and near stock Android (simple & looks good) . The camera issues, however, pushed me towards the GS4 and G2.

Thank you for your input. Can you be more specific about the "camera issues"?? Are these the issues that were just fixed (sort of I think) with the recent KitKat update or something else?

 

[SactoKingsFan]

Thank you for your input. Can you be more specific about the "camera issues"?? Are these the issues that were just fixed (sort of I think) with the recent KitKat update or something else?

There was a software issue with the Moto X camera when it was initially released. The viewfinder was too dark, some pics were under saturated and indoor/low light situations often produced lackluster results. Moto attempted to fix the issue through new camera app in play store. Pics are better, but camera still struggles at times especially in low light settings (compared to G2, HTC One, Nokia Lumia, S4)

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Tre Lawrence]

I'm particularly biased towards HTC products at this time (admittedly due to great customer service I recently received), but the Moto woud be a great entry device too.

 

[VW Maverick]

The best Android phone you can buy, as of November 2013 | Android Central

I have the LG G2 and LOVE it.

Mav.

 

[djstarion]

I think the camera on the Moto X is a lot better now than it was before. Yeah it's not an amazing shooter, but it's decent to good. Especially with the touch and drag to focus.

With that said, this is an amazing phone. It's extremely snappy, pretty much stock and very smooth. Plus just the way it feels in your hand is so natural.

The battery life is also exceptional.

 

[aloomis76]

There was a software issue with the Moto X camera when it was initially released. The viewfinder was too dark, some pics were under saturated and indoor/low light situations often produced lackluster results. Moto attempted to fix the issue through new camera app in play store. Pics are better, but camera still struggles at times especially in low light settings (compared to G2, HTC One, Nokia Lumia, S4)

Posted via Android Central App

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[aloomis76]

I'm particularly biased towards HTC products at this time (admittedly due to great customer service I recently received), but the Moto woud be a great entry device too.

Thanks for the input. I love the build quality of the One and it does feel good in your hand too. My other problem with this though is I might get a case and so that would just take that away from the phone aesthetically...great customer service you say? Can you elaborate a little?

 

[aloomis76]

The best Android phone you can buy, as of November 2013 | Android Central

I have the LG G2 and LOVE it.

Mav.

How long did it take for you to get used to the button position? I have large hands and just felt like it didn't fit right...have you experienced this? In the beginning maybe?

 

[aloomis76]

I think the camera on the Moto X is a lot better now than it was before. Yeah it's not an amazing shooter, but it's decent to good. Especially with the touch and drag to focus.

With that said, this is an amazing phone. It's extremely snappy, pretty much stock and very smooth. Plus just the way it feels in your hand is so natural.

The battery life is also exceptional.

It sounds like you are using the Moto X...any other negatives I should think about other than the camera? If you do have the X, with version do you have, 16 or 32 GB? How is your available space doing?

 

[Oofa]

So I need to qualify and say that I am predominantly a BlackBerry user. Have been for many years and many phones. That being said, Sprint is not offering the phone I thought I wanted and so I have been looking more and more at moving over to Android as my OS of choice.

What does that ^ mean? What phone did you "think you wanted"? What's the problem if you only "thought you wanted" a certain phone Sprint does not offer? And what about the BB Q10? What is it lacking that Android will provide for you?

 

[VW Maverick]

How long did it take for you to get used to the button position? I have large hands and just felt like it didn't fit right...have you experienced this? In the beginning maybe?

Took me about 20 minutes to get used to it. Now it seems perfectly natural.
With the "Knock On" feature, I find I don't need to hit the power button much at all. Volume adjusting is not a problem.
The rear buttons are naturally at your index finger when holding it, either hand, so it is all right there at your fingertips. Literally.

Mav.

 

[aloomis76]

What does that ^ mean? What phone did you "think you wanted"? What's the problem if you only "thought you wanted" a certain phone Sprint does not offer? And what about the BB Q10? What is it lacking that Android will provide for you?

LOL Well I do want the BB Z30 but as Sprint appears to not be carrying it my mindset has changed (maybe for the better?), and that is why I stated that I "thought" I wanted it...Sprint is who really changed my mind for me

As for the Q10, I have become accustomed to an all touchscreen phone and would like to stay that way. As much of a fan of BB I am, I don't think I can go back to a physical qwerty keyboard device (I know, sounds funny right?)...it just doesn't suit my needs anymore. One of the other reasons why I am probably going to (finally) make the switch.