Upgrade now (to a X) or wait for LTE?

[rehpyc]

I've been eligible for quite some time now and have recently decided on the X with having been on the fence between the X and SF for the past 2 months. My question, however, is whether it's worth upgrading now or holding out for LTE and phones that support it.

Here is the primary purpose of the question: I currently have a phone that doesn't use data. If I get a phone and unlimited data plan now, that unlimited data should later be grandfathered into when I upgrade to a phone that supports LTE 2 years from now, correct? That is at least my understanding. Or, do you feel the tiered pricing that VZW will be using at the start of the year won't be too bad and pretty practical in terms of price vs. data usage? Unless you're a heavy data user with streaming TV shows and music all day, you probably only use 2-3 GB(?), and so perhaps a $20-25 data plan for let's say 3 GB may be a better option than continuing to pay $30 for "unlimited"?

 

[Jack Tripper]

im sure they will work it so that a phone upgrade constitutes a plan change and eventually has everybody paying tiered data. i'm saying, it probably doesn't matter. they'll get you anyway.

 

[fadeout]

I agree... in the future there aren't going to be any more unlimited data plans. Go for the X now and make sure in the new contract they give you a new phone in a year so you can upgrade to LTE then.

 

[rehpyc]

That's where I weigh in whether buying a phone off ebay or such would be cost effective vs. using an upgrade (and thus giving them the potential option to "mess up my plan to the point of having to upgrade to their latest low-tiered plan" haha) vs a LTE-compatible phone.

 

[Deleted User]

It's pretty much up to how Verizon wants to handle it. I would be willing to bet that 4G is outside of the scope of your contract, thus meaning they aren't obligated to maintain the original data plan price.

For instance, I don't believe iPhone 2G owners were grandfathered into 3G plans, even if they were under contract.

It would entirely be up to Verizon's discretion and I seriously doubt they'll allow grandfathering of the unlimited plans to their LTE network.

Frankly, I don't think 4G phones are worth waiting for right now. There will be <40 cities who will get 4G by the end of the year, and it's very likely to be similar in rollout to Sprint's 4G - that is, extremely battery hungry, limited in availability and while it's a nice perk, it doesn't make me hold out for another 6 months for a phone.

By mid-to-late 2011, there will be better 4G phones on the market than the few that will be rushed to take advantage of Verizon's new install.

 

[bostoniansurvivor]

I've always been an instant gratification person. I would (and did) get the X now and by the time LTE is actually what it's cracked up to be you will be able to get a new phone. If you work it right you can always get VZW to upgrade you without penalty. For example, I bought my X in August with a two year extension. That same line is currently available for an upgrade. All about knowing the right people and knowing what you want.

 

[kdkinc]

Only do a 1 year contract the extra $79.00 is cheap considering that in one year you'll be kicking yourself for not doing it.
Second thing do you live or work in a soon to be LTE area ???
These thought are what made me do a 1 year contract 2 years can be and eternity...

 

[eraursls1984]

Only do a 1 year contract the extra $79.00 is cheap considering that in one year you'll be kicking yourself for not doing it.
Second thing do you live or work in a soon to be LTE area ???
These thought are what made me do a 1 year contract 2 years can be and eternity...

They let you upgrade at 1 year now with a 2 year contract, atleast they let me and my gf.

 

[tsanuri]

I know it has been said buy it should be repeated anyway.
There is one thing to consdier and that is if they have a different data plan for 4G, which is what I suspect they will do, then nobody will be grandfathered into unlimited once they make the switch.

As to the upgrade question or waiting, there will always be something new on the horizon. Are you even in a market that will get LTE on the initial release? If not then it is really something to worry about.

No the people that were on the iPhone did not get upgraded to 3G on AT&T but they were able to make the change to a 3G plan. And to this date if they are using one of the old plans are able to get grandfathered in on AT&T with unlimited data when they change.

 

[raqball]

I'd buy the X now and wait... The 1st line of LTE phones will be rushed out and be pretty buggy I'd assume..

Plus if it's anything like the EVO, 4G is a pure battery drainer...

 

[rehpyc]

The EVO being HORRID in terms of battery life has been one thing on my mind. I live in San Diego, which is on their list of initial cities to receive LTE, correct? I'll have to talk with some reps about upgrading to a LTE-compatible phone after only a year - I wonder if they'll treat it much the same as they've been allowing people to upgrade a year early to an Android phone now.

Thanks for helping me hop off the fence to one side - to upgrade now :]

 

[Outlaw71]

Don't forget that the EVO has an AMOLED screen as well. Not that the 4g isn't more energy consuming than 3g, but just imagine a 4.3 in AMOLED screen... no wonder it's such a battery hog. I think Seidio has a 2500 mAh for the EVO though... can't wait until they finally come out with one that big for the X!

 

[dirkbonn]

I'd buy the X now and wait... The 1st line of LTE phones will be rushed out and be pretty buggy I'd assume..

Plus if it's anything like the EVO, 4G is a pure battery drainer...

I'd get the phone you want that's available now.

Technology improvements are changing so fast that if you wait because you think the latest and greatest phone is just around the corner, you'll almost aways be waiting. LTE around the end of the year.... have the carriers ever delayed anything? LTE phones to debut at CES in January. Does that mean they will go on sale at that time? 6 months later a LTE phone with 1.5G processor, or a dual-core CPU? Oh, I gotta wait for that! In 3 or 4 months they'll have a battery that lasts 3 days with heavy usage on 4G!

Maybe not exactly the way it might go but you get my point.

Good luck whatever you do.....

 

[schad89]

Don't forget that the EVO has an AMOLED screen as well. Not that the 4g isn't more energy consuming than 3g, but just imagine a 4.3 in AMOLED screen... no wonder it's such a battery hog. I think Seidio has a 2500 mAh for the EVO though... can't wait until they finally come out with one that big for the X!

The evo 4g does not have an AMOLED screen...also it is debatable whether AMOLED consumes more battery. One of the advantages of such screens is supposedly that they consume less battery but I'm not totally sure.

 

[nj02vette]

The evo 4g does not have an AMOLED screen...also it is debatable whether AMOLED consumes more battery. One of the advantages of such screens is supposedly that they consume less battery but I'm not totally sure.

You are correct that the EVO does NOT have AMOLED; it's very similar HTC cousin, the Droid Incredible does.

However, it is a well documented fact that AMOLED consumes signifigantly more power then traditional LCD. SuperAMOLED was supposed to slightly remedy this, but tests have shown that even the new crop of Galaxy S class devices have similarly horrid battery life. For example, under web browsing performance, the battery life of the Droid X and Droid 2 is approx twice that of the AMOLED and SuperAMOLED devices.

 

[TheAlmightyDrew]

Upgrade to the X and do a one year contract. Honestly, I am going to wait on LTE. I don't live in highly populated metropolitan areas, so there will be no 4G/LTE towers where I am. I am going to wait until they start getting more LTE towers up before I upgrade to those phones.

EDIT: I just read the list and the closest place to me that will have LTE service is Philadelphia and that is two and a half hours away...

 

[ctxx24]

Just don't wait for the better phone, I used to roll that way..all u will do is wait...

 

[sean76]

You are correct that the EVO does NOT have AMOLED; it's very similar HTC cousin, the Droid Incredible does.

However, it is a well documented fact that AMOLED consumes signifigantly more power then traditional LCD. SuperAMOLED was supposed to slightly remedy this, but tests have shown that even the new crop of Galaxy S class devices have similarly horrid battery life. For example, under web browsing performance, the battery life of the Droid X and Droid 2 is approx twice that of the AMOLED and SuperAMOLED devices.

I don't know about that? The Fascinate after about a week or so with charging was one of the best when it came to battery life. And that's with a SuperAmoled on board. However the incredible that had a reg Amoled screen at launch, which sucked, and now comes with a super LCD screen, which to be honest still sucks! As for the Droid X, after a few charges I started to see similar battery life as the Fascinate had, which would get me through a full day into the late evening with fairly Heavy use...

 

[nj02vette]

I don't know about that? The Fascinate after about a week or so with charging was one of the best when it came to battery life. And that's with a SuperAmoled on board. However the incredible that had a reg Amoled screen at launch, which sucked, and now comes with a super LCD screen, which to be honest still sucks! As for the Droid X, after a few charges I started to see similar battery life as the Fascinate had, which would get me through a full day into the late evening with fairly Heavy use...

Motorola Droid X, Droid 2 Leads Android Battery Life

Notice how all the AMOLED and SuperAMOLED devices are at the bottom? Hmmm.

That's just one of the tests that I found, but if you pull up the actual specs of the glass panels themselves, the current draw is much higher for AMOLED and SuperAMOLED (including backlight for standard LCD). Period, not open for debate.

With screen on, the Galaxy S class devices will drain much faster then the Droid X.

 

[rehpyc]

I did end up getting a X and 1-year contract :] Have since rooted the phone, created a nandroid backup after setting up the phone to my liking (so far), applied the LCD density change, and froze all the bloatware. Thus far the only hiccup I've ran into was the screen getting stuck on the Motorola logo upon rebooting the device.. but I had already known that was one of the known bugs from 2.2 and pulled the battery for the reboot. Battery life has lasted me entire days with pretty heavy use, which on its own has been great and especially so with having been use to going only 4 hours with an old LG Chocolate (the old battery was probably a culprit of this).

I know Quadrant scores aren't a be-all-end-all thing, but I can't complain here. So far I've enjoyed the phone, and that it has yet to provide any problems others have faced :]

 

[aohus]

waiting for LTE will take awhile. prepare to see 4G phones in mid 2011 imo.