Worth Paying Full Retail?

[paintdrinkingpete]

Alright, so I currently have an HTC Thunderbolt on Verizon. It's been a great phone for me, but I'm beginning to get the itch to move on. The way I see it, I essentially have 2 choices:

1. Wait until late November until I'm due for an upgrade, get a phone at the 2-year contract price, but lose my unlimited plan.

2. Buy a phone at full retail price (pretty much at any time I want to) and keep unlimited data.

Now, I don't use *that* much data that keeping unlimited is absolutely necessary for me, but I would like to keep it (if for no other reason than to say "@#$% you!" to VZW), so I have been considering the full retail pricing for a while now. The thing is though, if I'm gonna pay $500+ on a new phone, I better be getting a pretty darn nice one!

So my real question is, is the Verizon S3 worth it, or should I wait? If you own one, would you buy one again? What are some reasons why it may not be the best phone to purchase right now? Keep in mind, I'm not necessary asking if you'd pay full price for it, just whether it would be worth it for someone to buy that was looking to go that route.

So far, the major cons I've seen are:
- battery life. Hey, I'm coming from a Thunderbolt, it can't be worse, can it?!?
- screen. Is it really that easy to scratch?
- Verizon's encrypted bootloader. But that already has a work-around and CMW and ROMs can be installed, right?

Anything else?

 

[Srambo217]

Of course anyone visiting this board will say it's worth it.

Any review from a reputable blog (Android Central) will answer you hardware questions. I considered myself a power-user and have no complaints regarding the stock battery/hardware.

If you buy one outright you can always jump to a different carrier or device once your contract ends. You also have the option to resell it later on if something else comes along.

Bottomline, if you have the cash and want the phone now, buy it. If you can't easily afford it, not sure how much you want it, and don't NEED unlimited data just hang back and see what 2013 has in store.

PS: there are already custom ROMs and flashable kernels

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

 

[jman5]

I upgraded from a tb to galaxy a month ago (1 yr contact on tb).

Battery life is better, esp streaming music. 4G doesn't kill the battery life like on the tb. However, if you use the screen a lot, the battery does drain quicker than I'd like. Standby is ok, not great... but, unlike the tb, the percentage shown is the actual percentage and it doesn't drop a lot on reboot. In short, the battery is definitely an improvement over the tb... I think at least 2x.

I liked sense better than tw. Tw really does suck, can't really think of anything good to say about it. But, with apex and a replacement dialer, the galaxy rocks. It is fast. A very slight lag when hitting the home button, but other than that, it is really fast with everything. The screen is great. I have a Verizon non glare protector on it and a seidio surface case. Even with the case, it is still very thin.

Is it worth$200? Yes. $600 - probably not. I'd guess it will go down in price since android devices don't tend to hold value well.

I can't speak to rooting since never did it to the tb. Maybe I'll use my old tb as an experimental device since I'm kinda curious about rooting, but am afraid of bricking the phone I'm using at a given time.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[PJnc284]

Also came from the Thunderbolt and the difference is night and day. Even right out of the box, the GSIII ran circles around my rooted and rom'd Thunderbolt. In regards to the bootloader, we already have the same capabilities as the unlocked versions. Verizon should just go ahead and unlock it as their efforts have done nothing more than only slightly annoy. Rooting and installing cwm was probably easier than it was on the Thunderbolt with 2 different "one click" methods and the EZ-Recovery app. Odin makes it painless to return to stock if needed.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Thanks for the responses. Granted, I already know how great the hardware specs are...I was basically looking for user "experiences", which is why I asked here.

For what it's worth, no phone in my opinion is worth $600...but if you want a high-end device without a contract that's the reality. Also, while the prices for 2-year contract do drop, retail prices generally do not...so I don't really see any reason to wait if I wanted to pull the trigger.

To be honest, I probably would have already pulled the trigger if I hadn't bought a Nexus 7 last month (now that's a device worth the price), so while I could afford to buy a S3 without a contract, my gadget budget is already a bit depleted. None the less, I suppose I'll continue to weigh my options...

I'm familiar with TW, as I've owned a Galaxy tab as well. It's not bad, but I agree it's not as nice as Sense. Most likely though, I'll be installing an AOSP ROM once I find one I like anyway...CM10 looks promising!

 

[Rackness]

It was worth it to me. My Razr Maxx now my just in case backup is a good phone with great battery life but the S3 is a great phone with good battery life. The latter makes for a far more satisfying experience. Plus if I really need battery endurance I can bring spare batteries. But only if i need days of use without being able to charge.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[blueyzfr6]

I also had the the TBolt on a 1 year. If I would've gone on a 2 yr my bill would've gone up $30 a month. $200 for the phone+ $30x24 months =$720+$30"upgrade fee"= $950 for a $600 phone. So I kept the Unlimited and bought the phone for $600. I sold my TBolt for $250. In my mind I only paid $350 for the phone. Now I just sit and play Netflix ALL day... why???? Cause I have unlimited data of course. I'm now using about 15GB a month, up from 5GB

 

[eleeezy]

If anything get the developer version from Samsung since it will be the same price.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

 

[chevyman29]

to date i have paid full retail for a droid x, a nokia n8, a gnex, and i added a line to get the razr maxx . and of course i paid full retail for the s3 out of all these phones the s3 is the only one i would buy for full retail if i had to do it all over again . while the others where all decent phones in there own way NONE of them has given me half the satisfaction this phone has . in fact this phone will probably be the phone that gets me away from motorola for good . I never thought i would say that especially being its a samsung device . even in the fring areas the razr maxx doesnt show a clear advantage and thats one of moto's strong suits . for me it was for sure worth the money

 

[osta.doc]

Pete,

I switched from the Tbolt (which I really liked) 2 weeks ago and I love the S3.

Do you happen to have anyone on your account that is due for an upgrade that you could "steal" from them?

That way, you could keep your unlimited data. You never know what the future holds for data usage needs.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Well crap... I know myself well enough to know that I'm probably not gonna be able to ignore the voices in my head telling me to buy this...

 

[broadwayblues]

Also keep in mind that you can hit up swappa.com and get a S3 or other phones cheaply.

I use it a lot and snatch up phones that are cheap. Just sold my GNex and used the money to pick up a new Maxx.

Sent from my Verizon Galaxy S III.

 

[F34R]

I also had the the TBolt on a 1 year. If I would've gone on a 2 yr my bill would've gone up $30 a month. $200 for the phone+ $30x24 months =$720+$30"upgrade fee"= $950 for a $600 phone. So I kept the Unlimited and bought the phone for $600. I sold my TBolt for $250. In my mind I only paid $350 for the phone. Now I just sit and play Netflix ALL day... why???? Cause I have unlimited data of course. I'm now using about 15GB a month, up from 5GB

I had the same issue. It would have cost me more to get the phone subsidized, and end up with less amount of services that we use.

 

[dj hidroid]

I grabbed my GS3 off of ebay for $500 and that was including shipping. I was going to sell my Razr maxx that I got as a replacement after going through 5 Gnex's but I have decided to keep it because with the 4g micro sims I can switch back and forth between my GS3 and Maxx. If you want a high end android on Verizon that is up to date go ahead and grab it because the only phones that are in the pipelines for Verizon are the Razr HD and a rumored Htc phablet but the phablet probably won't see a release till Nov/Dec.

 

[karsdroid]

i also came from the thunderbolt and was excited and looking for a bigger screen.....it is in reality longer than the tbolt but no wider. it is fast and sleek. the battery is great. depends on what you are looking for in a phone. I'm looking for a big screen and therefore it was worth and upgrade....i preordered before the new plan and held onto my unlimited plan. If i had to pay full retail to retain my unlimited plan (and I will) I would personally wait for the upcoming rumored wave of large screen phones, but thats my preference in big screens talking. everything else about this phone is worth the upgrade at full retail.

 

[jaz0305]

If anything get the developer version from Samsung since it will be the same price.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

Hi,
i have the developer edition of s3 from verizon, what does that mean? I tried volume down, home & power switch & it took me to the option of installing custom rom. I am little new to this so please any in put is appreciated.

 

[PJnc284]

Hi,
i have the developer edition of s3 from verizon, what does that mean? I tried volume down, home & power switch & it took me to the option of installing custom rom. I am little new to this so please any in put is appreciated.

The developer edition isn't out yet and has no ETA other than "coming soon". Volume down + home + power takes you into download mode where you can flash images using a program called Odin. Mainly for getting back to stock in case you bork something but can also be used to update your modem.

 

[jaz0305]

do i need to download odin or it automatically does when i do volume down, home & power

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

If anything get the developer version from Samsung since it will be the same price.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

This is the main reason I haven't bought it yet! The problem is, this "developer edition" appears to be a bit of a white whale. I figure it will either never get released, OR it will finally be for sale the day after I pull the trigger on a standard s3. I mean it's been almost a month since the news of this version was put there, and there has been ZERO info released since. Maybe I'll give it until the end of the week...

 

[Srambo217]

do i need to download odin or it automatically does when i do volume down, home & power

Judging by this reply I suggest you do a lot more research before getting up in your phone's guts.

Odin is a PC utility which flashes the rooted ROM to your device.

You should use GS3_debugfs-root_r2 to root your device, since it's very noob friendly.