Get a new phone now, or wait for next year's upgrades?

[pb7090]

As stated in the title, I am looking to get a new (android of course) phone from at&t. I'm considering the Galaxy SIII, One X+, Optimus G, and Nexus 4. But onto my actual question, should I wait and see what phones come out next year? My current phone is 2 years old and survived a fall in a pool but is beginning to run slowly. I can wait till next year but I'm wondering if it is worth it.

tl;dr What new phones will be hitting the market soon and are they worth waiting for?

 

[chanchan05]

if manufacturers stick to the refresh schedule we've seen over the years, its:

One X successor by March 2013,
Galaxy S4 by June 2013
Sony Flagship around August 2013
And a new Nexus phone by November 2013

Sent from my GT-I9003 using Tapatalk 2

 

[pb7090]

Do you know anything of an LG successor too? Just trying to look at all the angles

 

[Ingenieur7]

I currently have the SGS2 and I'm planning to get the SGS4 early next year.

Samsung surprisingly said that they'll release the SGS4 in February 2013.

 

[pb7090]

A link to a site with the rumour, in case anyone wanted to look at it. It could be later than Q1, so do you think it would be worth the wait? I'm guessing price with a contract would be $200-300 right?

Samsung Galaxy S4 Release Date Tipped For February 2013; 13MP Camera, Quad-Core A15 Chip Rumored

 

[chanchan05]

Do you know anything of an LG successor too? Just trying to look at all the angles

Personally I'd stay away from any thing made by LG that doesn't say nexus.

Sent from my GT-I9003 using Tapatalk 2

 

[pb7090]

I've actually had a good experience with my LG, but ill take the bad rap they have into account when comparing phones.

 

[AntimonyER]

THe LG Optimus G has pretty good reviews from what I have seen. Of course it is basically the Nexus with LG's skin added on. (And has LTE active in the US).

 

[chanchan05]

THe LG Optimus G has pretty good reviews from what I have seen. Of course it is basically the Nexus with LG's skin added on. (And has LTE active in the US).

It's LG's skin and thr bad rap for updates they have that I am staying away from.

Sent from my GT-I9003 using Tapatalk 2

 

[pb7090]

Are there ways to circumvent those issues? (First time android user question)

 

[Hadron]

Hi pb7090, and welcome to AF (a day late, I know!)

Skins you can largely replace with a custom launcher.

The only thing you can do if updates are too slow is root and use custom ROMs. How well this works depends on how much developer interest there is in the device - I suspect that there might be a decent following for the Optimus G, given time, but that's only a guess, and I'd advise doing some research (visit the device's All Things Root forum here, for example). You should know that rooting invalidates your warranty, and not everybody wants to do it.

 

[DROZ]

I would wait for the Galaxy S4, but if you are getting a christmas gift or something, I would ask for an S3 or Nexus 4

 

[tsilvernail]

In my opinion, the top tier phones on the market right now are going to be great phones for another 2-3 years. THey are fast enough and durable enough to last that long. Will they still be getting updates in 3 years? probably not but I don't know if that is an issue for you or not. If you're truly concerned with updates, grab the nexus 4. Assuming the glass holds up you could make it well over the 2 years with that phone (then again you won't need to upgrade to get it, so you can pocket your upgrade, just in case)

 

[pb7090]

Is it worth the wait to get a phone with less problems though? I'd be fine with any of the great phones that are available right now but they all have some small complaint or gripe. Do you think that these will be remedied in the new models?

 

[tsilvernail]

it doesnt matter when or what you buy, its always going to have some problems with it. You also need to evaluate whether or not the problem being brought up is actually a problem for you!

For example, people continue to gripe about the lack of LTE on the N4. While this is certainly a problem for some people, I have pre-paid tmobile (or straight talk att, depending on where I am that month) and I rarely do anything on my phone that requires more than 5mbps download. I don't use, nor do I need LTE. That is not a problem for me.