Verizion Moto X DE vs. Note III

[Unforgiven]

So my GNex is really at the end of its rope. Anyone remember the one way calling, yeah, 28 months later it has reared its ugly head again. That, plus a tired battery, and a littany of other problems with the GNex that were never fixed, it's time to move on.

So, I've settled on a used Note III vs. a brand new Moto X DE. These will both be cash purchases as I am keeping my unlimited plan. I've found I can purchase either for roughly the same price.

I'm not a big custom rom person, the only time I strayed from stock on the GNex was when VZW took for ever for OTA's and then I primarily ran Shiny which is just AOSP. I just have some questions as to which I will get along better with.

Note III questions:
I have never really used anything but stock Android, what is the learning curve with Touchwiz? I never got along with Sense on my wife's Rhyme, but her S3 seems like only minor differences. I won't have to learn an entire new UI, will I.

Is the pen really that much of a have to have. I use my smartphone for primarily calls, texts, and general data consumption (web, forums, news, twitter).

Moto X questions:
How close to stock is the UI? It seems far closer than TW, but not AOSP.

How useful are the voice commands / shake for camera and other gimmicks?

I fairly certain that this is still Moto skinned, but please confirm as I know GE devices lose some of the enhancements (HTC One Google Experience).

General Questions:
How are signal strength?

How is battery life?

I don't expect a bunch of folks to have owned both devices, so I'll take and appreciate input from anyone that owns or owned either.

 

[Rukbat]

Note III questions:
I have never really used anything but stock Android, what is the learning curve with Touchwiz?

Mine was zilch - I put Nova on it as soon as I got it. The N3 is my wife's first Android and she had no problem getting used to TW.

her S3 seems like only minor differences. I won't have to learn an entire new UI, will I.

S3 to the N3? If you leave TW on, not much. If you install Nova, yes - but I think you might and up preferring it. FAR from stock Android.

Is the pen really that much of a have to have. I use my smartphone for primarily calls, texts, and general data consumption (web, forums, news, twitter).

With my fat fingers, yes. Texting, all sorts of inputs. Try pressing a tiny button on a web page with my fingers and it's more like "select all". And grease cleans off the pen easier than it does off the screen protector.

General Questions:

How are signal strength?

No problem anywhere I go with an N3, but I haven't been actively looking for dead spots since I got out of the business. Never lost a call or got dropped words. Using AT&T. If I used a Sprint N3, I know where I'd get a huge dead spot - my daughter's entire house, except for about 6 square inches of one upstairs bedroom window. But Verizon, for all the bad things said about it, generally has great coverage.

How is battery life?

Depends on use. I've gotten 4 days with almost no screen time, but a day of normal use isn't difficult.

One note. The Verizon Note 3 (the ATT&T version too) is welded shut. You can't install an unsigned ROM, you can't install a custom recovery. Safestrap lets you run mods of the Samsung ROM (look on XDA), but no CWM or TWRP.

 

[Unforgiven]

Thanks rukbat, I'm focused mainly on Verizon, but the battery info is great. I'm not at all a heavy user, in fact I probably trend to a light user. To me good battery life is being able to use my phone as I see fit from when I wake up and unplug it until I get home from work. Sounds like I'll be able to get that without problem on the N3.