Can anyone help me choose my phone?

[Customer4565]

Can't choose my phone!

Hello,

So I got an VZW M8 and it's a great phone...but I continued researching about the s5 and g3 and honestly I'm not sure if i got the right phone. I have until next weekend to exchange the phone so I was wondering if you guys could help me with a decision? They're almost equal but only the small differences really separate them...

I previously come from a S3, what I need in a phone (arranged by highest priority to lowest):

-Good audio quality via headphones, speakers on phone won't really be used music for music.
-signal connection, don't want dropped calls/call quality
-nice screen/can be used in sunlight. I like a large screen but not a large phone(small bezels). I like color accuracy and a beautiful display.
-rooting and custom roms. I understand VZW is harder for this.
-Smooth and fast UI
-battery life
-front camera(snapchat) and rear camera for social media. I have a dslr, but don't always carry it...
-microsd
-removable battery
-notification LED(preferably different colors for different apps like email and texts..)
-water resistance


Water resistance is admirable, but not necessary. Obviously I like music! I'm under the impression the g3 and m8 produce good audio quality through headphones, though the m8 has the harman kardon mod I hear praise about. I want to root my phone and probably flash a rom, like cleanrom, to rid of bloatware and use titanium backup and such. I'm under the impression the m8 has a lot of development, the g3 and s5 not so much???

I got the m8 because it's 29.99, the g3 is 79.99 and the s5 is 99.99. I am trying to factor price into my decision too, would it be worth more to pay for another phone??

Suggestions? Thanks for your time!

 

[Rukbat]

Re: Can't choose my phone!

-Good audio quality via headphones, speakers on phone won't really be used music for music.

The headphones will be the most determining factor. Most phones will have good audio quality when used with good headphones. When used with $5 headphones, you usually get what you pay for, regardless of the phone.

-signal connection, don't want dropped calls/call quality

These days it's mostly the carrier that determines that, not the phone. Most phones have receivers that are about as sensitive as the technology can achieve, on a class by class comparison. IOW, the cheapest phones of each manufacturer are about the same - poor. The flagship phones usually have sensitive receivers.

The two things that will determine sensitivity in any given class phone are how good a signal that location gets from that carrier, and whether you can hear noisy GSM or warbly CDMA better when the signal gets weak.

-nice screen/can be used in sunlight. I like a large screen but not a large phone(small bezels). I like color accuracy and a beautiful display.

Can't help you too much there, except to say that electronic color rendition, whether a TV, a computer or a phone, has a long way to go before it looks like the real world. (And most people want colors that are more saturated than reality is. Read a few expert blogs n adjusting the color on a TV and you'll see what I mean.)

-rooting and custom roms. I understand VZW is harder for this.

Nope. The version of Android and the make and model of the phone determine it. There are a few exceptions - Samsung has caved in to AT&T and Verizon and their phones are pretty solidly locked. Also, rooting a phone with Android 4.4.4 is still a work in progress. But rooting a Verizon S3 with 4.2 is trivial. It's not Verizon. Rooting a phone with Android 5? We'll have to wait ands see. (It's one of the reasons I'm one of the last people to accept an update. I won't, until that version is easily and cleanly rootable.)

The questions here are why you want to root the phone and what you're looking for in a custom ROM. If it's just to have a rooted phone and a custom ROM, you shouldn't. You get very little for voiding the warranty. (Either one immediately voids it.) BTW, a custom ROM will be rooted. Rooting a phone first, then flashing a custom ROM, is like washing your hands before working on your car engine.

-Smooth and fast UI

Vanilla Android, which means a Nexus. Next smoothest, IMO (the UI is really a very personal decision) is Nova launcher, which you can install on any Android phone. In any software, the way it works is that the less there is, the faster it runs.

-battery life

iPhone. If you want great battery life on an Android phone, use a larger battery or carry spares. (And if you want the battery to last a long time, condition it when you get it [3 full charges and full discharges before using it normally], and charge it around the 50% discharge point (40%-60% is fine). See Battery University - How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries You can do the math yourself if you want to. Regularly using the last bit of power in the battery will mean replacing it a LOT more often. (My V551 OEM battery - that's from around 2004 - is still giving me almost full life.)

-front camera(snapchat) and rear camera for social media.

Almost any "more than entry level" phone these days. Quality? Not like a DSLR, unless you go for the Nokia 42MP camera. (And that's still a far cry from 2X2 film which is about 2GP.)

-microsd

S5 or G3.

-removable battery

Again, S5 or G3. (BTW, this should be higher on the list. If the battery goes and "vents flame", you want to be able to pull the back off and shake the battery out, not watch your phone melt.)

-notification LED(preferably different colors for different apps like email and texts..)

S5. I'm not sure about the G3, but probably.

-water resistance

The S5 is rated as water resistant. That doesn't mean that if you're using it in a rain that soaks you through to the skin the phone will survive, it means that a few drops of water splashed on it won't seep into the insides. Most carriers still won't guarantee it against water damage. Two zip-lock baggies, places one inside the other, with the inside one zipper in, both zipped (and the phone in the inside one) make the phone not water resistant, but waterproof down to about 10 feet. More if the baggies zip really well. And you can still use the phone. (Add a large cork, tied to the baggies without making a hole, and even if y9ou drop the phone off a boat, picking it up is no problem.)

I want to root my phone and probably flash a rom, like cleanrom, to rid of bloatware and use titanium backup and such.

You can do that without a custom ROM. The only reason for a custom ROM is that the one you use gives you something you want that the stock ROM doesn't - and doesn't take away anything you need. (For instance, if the custom ROM has GPS problems and you never use the GPS, that's fine, but if you always use your phone for navigation, it's not.)

I'm under the impression the m8 has a lot of development, the g3 and s5 not so much???

Look in the respective forums on XDA to see which one has how much of what. That's where you'll find all the hackers (old meaning) and developers.

I got the m8 because it's 29.99, the g3 is 79.99 and the s5 is 99.99. I am trying to factor price into my decision too, would it be worth more to pay for another phone??

If it has something you need that the other ones don't. I wouldn't pay more for a phone that had easier to push buttons or a more fully saturated screen, but I would pay more for one with a faster CPU, or more RAM (which would require a 64 bit CPU) or - my favorite wish - a fully Linux OS that has a JRE that would run Android apps. Your priorities are certainly different than mine, though. So the answer to this question is "that depends on you".

 

[Customer4565]

Re: Can't choose my phone!

That's true headphones are important, but VIA google the m8 and g3 produce audio more flat than the s5 and the m8 can power some very powerful headphones because it has a powerful output.

Good to hear they all have good signal connection and I never had issues with Verizon's connection.

I understand that I'll never get true colors, but I know the s5 has rather saturated colors and the m8 and g3 more "natural" colors though the g3 is said to be a little washed out and not as contrasty. I also want a screen that's able to been seen outside, E.G. able to produce a bright screen for outdoor use. The s5 is the winnter there, but the m8 does well outdoors. The g3 I hear doesn't get dim and at full brightness overheats easily...

I want to root to remove some stock apps and install adaway and titanium backup.. that's all really. Sense is really nice too and I used Nova on my s3. I do like the badge notifications on sense, something I envy from ios

Phone camera's suck haha, but for instagram and other social media it does the job well. I do like the front camera of the m8, considering it's wide angle and produces good quality photos. The rear is okay too, but digital zoom isn't good (and never will be...)

Battery life is definitely a concern, and my s3 battery holds half the charge it original does so I feel perhaps not having a remoevable battery on my m8 might be an issue.

the m8 notification LED is basic, and I'm under the impression the g3 and s5 will do better.

Yeah I don't really want to pay for a phone that's equally just as good but the g3 on paper seems A LOT more powerful and "future proof" for my next two years. The external speaker isn't as good on the m8, but I don't think I'd really miss it....Just nervous because I've heard of a lot of issues with the g3. Heck the nexus 6 looks good though, and I'm now considering waiting for it.

 

[Customer4565]

Re: Can't choose my phone!

I think I have to get the g3 for the sheer fact of a removeable battery... I don't have time to fully chrage my phone as I'm literally in and out of my dorm room and need to be in contact with my staff.

 

[belodion]

Re: Can't choose my phone!

If you do get it, come and join us in the G3 forum.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Customer4565]

Re: Can't choose my phone!

haha thanks.

My brother keeps trying to convince me to join the dark side, aka get an iphone. I would consider it if wasn't so expensive..

 

[Golfdriver97]

Re: Can't choose my phone!

Another option might be the new Moto X. Motorola batteries are just plain hard to kill.

 

[Rukbat]

Re: Can't choose my phone!

Motorola batteries are just plain hard to kill.

Tell me about it - the 2004 battery in my V551 is still going pretty strong.

 

[Customer4565]

Re: Can't choose my phone!

Is that true? The new droid turbo is coming out tomorrow...sort of eyeing it despite the heft price tag :l

Not having a removable battery is one thing , but my s3...the battery really just died for the last 6 months of use. Definitely lost more than 50 percent of its charge. That's what really worries me about the m8 and the turbo and makes me look at the g3 and s5 more. I'd like the ability to switch out a battery..but then I feel I'll only have this phone for two years and that the m8 battery won't be as fragile as my s3.