Thinking of trading s5 active for g3

[derekeh]

I just traded for an s5 active and its a decent phone but I really like the looks of the g3. I've read reviews but I'd like some opinions on average consumers like me. How is your battery life? That's a big factor for me. Outdoor visibility? Decent volume? Decent accessories for it? Thanks!

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[STARGATE]

All the people I know that have a LG G3 love it. I have the GS5 and love it, would not trade it for the G3, but that's just me.
Accesories are good and battery is very good, according to those that have the G3.
Go to a store and try it, make sure it is what you want.

 

[Theot]

I just went from a note 2 to the G3 yesterday. After 2 years with the note 2 and it being my 3rd Samsung device in a row this is a big change for me. 24 hours in I'm on the fence. It's different, no home button and the volume and power buttons being on the back it's a big change. The software is different, I'm still adjusting.

Is it nice solid well built device? It seems to be, 3GB of ram vs the S5's 2GB. Plus the bigger screen in almost the same size phone. It was well worth a try for me, I have 13 days left to see if I like it.

 

[PaulQ]

I went from the Galaxy S4 to the LG G3. I've had it for four days. I am within a 14 day return period.

First thing you notice is the size. It's going to seem big. But it's probably the smallest 5.5" phone out there. I am getting used to it. I notice it more in my pocket. The question is - am I willing to give up the fantastic large screen because of this little issue. I'm leaning toward no (keeping the LG).

The buttons on the back... I thought this would drive me nuts but it's all about muscle memory. You have to train yourself to use them... feel them. I am getting better at it and it's starting to seem normal. Admittedly, I still find myself turning the phone over to look but it's going away. Putting a case on helped because it caused the buttons to be sunken in a bit (I use a very slim case). I can slide my finger up onto the buttons and feel the raised power button.

The screen... it's beautiful. It definitely gets bright enough for outdoor visibility. You're going to have to turn it up though like any other phone.

Battery life... doesn't seem particularly worse than my GS4. It might be a tiny bit worse but I'm not noticing anything drastic.

Bloatware... nice to get rid of all that Samsung cr*p. Of course, there's still the AT&T cr*p. I just turned it all off.

Lag... people talk about lag. I'm not noticing much of it. I am using Apex launcher though. No idea if that makes a difference.

Accessories? I guess I found what little I need. A case and screen protector. No problem. I am disappointed by the lack of Qi wireless charging in the AT&T model. Victim of corporate greed.

I would say I am 80% sold. I have been reading tons of reviews and I'm especially focused on the Moto G and M8. But the big screen is so nice.

 

[beagle82]

I just traded for an s5 active and its a decent phone but I really like the looks of the g3. I've read reviews but I'd like some opinions on average consumers like me. How is your battery life? That's a big factor for me. Outdoor visibility? Decent volume? Decent accessories for it? Thanks!

Posted via the Android Central App

I'll be totally unbiased and honest.
The G3 is an awesome phone. The overall design of the phone is beautiful. The rear mounted buttons are genius. I was initially worried about them, but after a day or two they just feel natural.

The screen is amazing, however i do find myself turning up the brightness when out in direct sunlight. Amoled may have been more useful here.

The battery is more than sufficient, it easily sees me through a whole day.

In terms of lag, I've never had any problems and I'm using the stock launcher.

Coming from a Samsung, this phone is very lean on the pre-installed apps, with most of them removable.

With all of the other current phones available, nothing has tempted me enough to change.

The camera is just plain brilliant.

The only issue i have with the phone is that i can no longer tie my shoelaces with the phone in my pocket. But then again the other phones would pose the same problem.

Good luck

 

[derekeh]

I traded to the g3 and so far I really like it. I've been using it for 3 days. Battery life has been good, outdoor visibility good and I can use it rarely decent one handed. So far I've not changed launchers as the stock one works fine for me. My only issues as of now are signal and the screen. My WiFi sometimes kicks off for some reason.... And signal isn't quite as good as my iPhone 6 and s5 were but its not bad. Just in some buildings I can't keep signal where I could with other phones. My screen works fine but to me the text looks funky. It's just a g3 thing though. The buttons on the back... I can't say I like them better but I don't use them much anyways because of the knock knock feature. Love the phone.... Hope its one I can be satisfied with a while.

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[Theot]

I traded to the g3 and so far I really like it. I've been using it for 3 days. Battery life has been good, outdoor visibility good and I can use it rarely decent one handed. So far I've not changed launchers as the stock one works fine for me. My only issues as of now are signal and the screen. My WiFi sometimes kicks off for some reason.... And signal isn't quite as good as my iPhone 6 and s5 were but its not bad. Just in some buildings I can't keep signal where I could with other phones. My screen works fine but to me the text looks funky. It's just a g3 thing though. The buttons on the back... I can't say I like them better but I don't use them much anyways because of the knock knock feature. Love the phone.... Hope its one I can be satisfied with a while.

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I'm 8 days in now and pretty sold. I got a different case I like better and everything seems to work fine. There's a part of me still wanting a nexus but lollipop on that thing doesn't sound fully baked yet so I'm really having a tough time seeing any reason to give up the G3, plus I can't beat the price. This thing was $1 on contract at best buy.

I shot some video yesterday that looks phenomenal, still figuring out the camera but I may start using it more.

 

[derekeh]

Yesterday and part of today I used the phone in different areas of my town and signal definitely is not as good as my iPhone 6, moto x, s5, etc. It really struggles in buildings such as Walmart and Lowes where my other phones do not. I'm loving this phone but I'm not sure I can deal with the signal issues. Hopefully I can find a fix.

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[Theot]

Yesterday and part of today I used the phone in different areas of my town and signal definitely is not as good as my iPhone 6, moto x, s5, etc. It really struggles in buildings such as Walmart and Lowes where my other phones do not. I'm loving this phone but I'm not sure I can deal with the signal issues. Hopefully I can find a fix.

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Yeah I don't think I get any better signal than I did on my note 2. Thinking of going to the M8 or S5.... They have a sweet deal on sprint for the Harmon kardon edition of the M8 right now.

 

[derekeh]

I do love my g3 but dang if this signal issue isn't making my phone a pain to use. It just seems like every store I go in that it switches to 4g and is very slow. I recently acquired an iPhone 6 plus and this thing gets awesome signal. Places where my g3 completely drops signal, my iPhone will stream YouTube videos. Hopefully I can find a fix soon.

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[vocalist]

This is really interesting. I had the S5 and the Note 4 and while calls sounded fantastic, my signal always showed 1-2 bars in my house and even while out so text messages took a bit longer to go through. Most of the time I saw 3G intermittently with Spark. With the G3, I have been seeing full service bars. I find myself missing some features of the S5 though I'm not sure they would be enough to make me go back. I do miss all of the accessory options as I'm not a huge fan of shopping for cases online.

On the flip side, I'm trying to figure out if my phone might be having some trouble as I've had a few bumps: The calendar icon keeps getting stuck on the previous day; scrolling through images in my gallery sometimes stops or starts going the opposite direction/reverting to the previous picture and won't move forward and I've seen this on a few webpages as well; I'm getting some blurred pictures, even with the laser auto focus. I had a G3 for 3 days (before all of this switching occurred) and don't remember encountering these issues. Thoughts?