i would agree with you who are stating you have equal to or close to the same signal. i saw that with friends s3 side by side to my maxx while sitting still in good coverage area. (although they both bounced around a bit while we sat and ate, both taking turns being better, the Maxx definitely took the win for having a better signal most of the time). the issue is once you start moving and signal starts to weaken, the maxx ABSOLUTELY outperforms the S3. This also allows the Maxx to not search for a signal as much. There are distinct locations on specific routes i drive were you will lose signal on almost any other "popular phone". For instance there is a 2 mile stretch between my home and town that kills the signal on every other phone i have owned starting back with a treo650, multiple BBs, Droid, Incredible, Incredible 2, Rezound, GNex, S3 and phones of friends and family. The Maxx will hold a call straight through. On a bad day i could possibly get a garble or quick dropout, but not lose it. the nexus had bad signal too, but not as bad in my opinion.
the first time it got hot, it was downloading probably 200 apps the day i got it. i reasoned it to all of the downloading. the second time was stationary in my truck in front of clients house. the heat was not from cab or sun. it was cool day 60-65 overcast, no sun. my truck was parked in a known bad signal area, i mean bad. i dont think i could get a solid signal there with my maxx. it bounces from no signal to 1x, quick blip of 3g, no 4g, etc. my maxx has been in that spot for hours no heat. s3 got VERY hot, I mean hot enough to be of concern in an hour. i pulled battery. i say this as i believed, even more so now, the heat was from radios working hard. which furthers my belief that the MAXX has a far superior radios.
if the maxx hd has comparable radio design/quality, it will be my next phone.