S3 to Droid Razr Maxx??

[jws86]

Hey all I just got my s3 for verizon 3 weeks ago and I have been loving the phone so far except for a few things. I am a pretty big stickler for battery life and the screen on the s3 pretty much impossible to see in sunlight. I have my s3 with a flashed rom/kernel right now, bloatware removed and the best battery life i've gotten is today down to 6% now with 22hrs on battery only 1hr 46mins screen time. 36mins of phone calls.

Questions are..I know the maxx has stellar batter life but is it tons better than what I have been getting on the s3? Also is the screen easy to see in bright light?

Any other reasons you could sway me to try and make a trade to a maxx? I love the looks of the phone, the screen isn't much smaller than the s3 and I know you all just got the ics update?

Also what about the radio for the maxx? I don't get great reception with the s3 and I'm in a decent 4g area. I've heard motorola radios are excellent?

 

[Kelmar]

Hands down... radios on Motorola phones are NOTORIOUSLY better than sammys.

The screen won't be as brilliant or crisp, but most people aren't bothered by it.

Bright sunlight... eh... if you have a white background it's not terrible. If it's a dark background it can still be difficult.

Battery life on the normal Razr is about what you are getting with the S3. Figure that the battery on the Maxx should get you about twice as much.

Yeap, we just got android 4.04 ICS. Not perfect and has some bugs but is still ICS.


Look forward to having you in the razr section!


Also, FWIW, the phone does have a locked bootloader.*

 

[jws86]

Hands down... radios on Motorola phones are NOTORIOUSLY better than sammys.

The screen won't be as brilliant or crisp, but most people aren't bothered by it.

Bright sunlight... eh... if you have a white background it's not terrible. If it's a dark background it can still be difficult.

Battery life on the normal Razr is about what you are getting with the S3. Figure that the battery on the Maxx should get you about twice as much.

Yeap, we just got android 4.04 ICS. Not perfect and has some bugs but is still ICS.



Look forward to having you in the razr section!


Also, FWIW, the phone does have a locked bootloader.*

The razr's bootloader is locked as well?

 

[Kelmar]

Yes sir.

While I'm not up to all the details on it, it appears as though there IS some kind of progress towards everything (kernels and such).

 

[jws86]

Yes sir.

While I'm not up to all the details on it, it appears as though there IS some kind of progress towards everything (kernels and such).

Damn verizon! Well I don't know I really want the battery life of the maxx. I see posts about 6-7hrs screen time over 40hrs on the battery..thats insane...I get tired of charging my phone all the time...

 

[Kelmar]

If it helps at all, and I've said this in MANY threads, I've got the Razr (not Maxx) and I've NEVER been this happy with a phone. This is the first phone I've EVER owned for more than 6 months (and I've owned quite a lot of them).

 

[jws86]

That's good to hear. I wish the maxx came in the white. I'm partial to white but I wouldn't get the basic razr and have just the same battery life as my s3. ahhh decisions decisions...

 

[you2]

Two comments; from folks who have owned both the s3 and razr (hopefully one will comment on this thread themselves; as I have the rar not the s3): the screen is as visible as the razr in bright sunlight (if not better); though you might have to tweak one of the default settings on the s3. The s3 is much snappier (I've noticed my phone always seems a bit slugish since the upgrade to ics; and when playing with the s3 in stores it is very snappy. The s3 has better 4g reception; the razr much better 3g reception (this makes sense given teh s3 chipset and history with the rezound).

The razr battery life is the reason I'll probably dump it soon - either for the s3 or new htc phone. If I had the maxx I would wait longer for an upgrade. The razr has great standby so with light usage it will last a day or more; but when I really need the bloody thing (during travel) it drains very fast.

 

[narayanan9190]

If it helps at all, and I've said this in MANY threads, I've got the Razr (not Maxx) and I've NEVER been this happy with a phone. This is the first phone I've EVER owned for more than 6 months (and I've owned quite a lot of them).

TRue That !
Me too !
its like you spoke out my mind voice

 

[narayanan9190]

and no more locked bootloaders..this wont affect any of us, but for general info, from now on moto will release all its devices with unlocked bootloaders

 

[ghost0211]

have you considered getting a larger battery for the s3?

 

[you2]

Can you provide a link that indicates the razr hd will not have a locked bootloader ?

and no more locked bootloaders..this wont affect any of us, but for general info, from now on moto will release all its devices with unlocked bootloaders

 

[narayanan9190]

Can you provide a link that indicates the razr hd will not have a locked bootloader ?

not just one...here you go

Motorola to unlock bootloaders starting with the PHOTON Q - SlashGear

Motorola Android Phones To Get Unlocked Bootloaders

 

[narayanan9190]

shit so sorry..i did not read your post well..there are no links that state the razr hd will have an unlocked bootloader....

 

[narayanan9190]

but the official announcement for that photon is this
Motorola PHOTON

 

[narayanan9190]

there are rumors that say HD too will get an unlocked bootloader...but hey so did the rumors say a lot of things about the samsung galaxy s3 ..... not all of them were true though

 

[you2]

Well I'll keep my fingers crossed....

 

[rushmore]

Not liking the HD, due to .3" of space taken up by the nav bar. I did not like it on the Gnex either. Both losing the space and the ease of pressing the buttons by mistake when using other apps (games in particular) is annoying for me.

As far as going from the S3 to the Razr, it depends on your coverage area. The Razr has awful battery life in 4G (regardless of signal), but good battery life with 3G. The GS3 though, has a split personality:

In medium to good signal areas, the GS3 using 4G has better battery life than the Razr with 3G (this also considers the offset for battery size). Same for 3G (of course).

The dark side though is in weak signal areas. The GS3 drains battery and gets
warmer than normal in weak signal areas, compared to the Razr.

As far as reception, the GS3 has better 4G, but a little weaker 3G. Call and text range is the same (both great).

Besides that, the GS3 is a much better device overall:

In spite of similar footprint, much bigger and far better display

The display is actually a little more visible in sunlight than the Razr and a few media reviews point this out.

Sound quality from 3.5mm is better

Faster and on average, cooler running device

Can wake the device with both the home and power button

No fixed nav bar or capacitive buttons placed too close to the display, so not easy to touch my mistake

Better battery life (overall) and options for battery changes

The location of the USB is more practical for using while plugged in

The one catch IMO is the coverage area. If you mainly live and dwell in weak coverage areas, the Razr will be kinder to 3G battery drain and reception than the GS3, but the actual battery life is the same, due to the bigger battery in the GS3.

The net result is since call and text range is the same and only an issue of 3G in weaker areas, I chose the GS3 for all the other things it does- much better.

 

[syntrix]

Weird, we compared my maxx and a sg3 outside, it was more washed out in direct sunlight. Also, the sg3 call quality is reported to be like the vzwsgn, very poor... or stated another way.... substandard to motorola in many ways. usb location is a personal preference, but I love it on top of the razr maxx, it just makes sense to have it there when hooking up to cables that are in front of me and come from the back of the desk.

 

[quickaudi]

not just one...here you go

Motorola to unlock bootloaders starting with the PHOTON Q - SlashGear

Motorola Android Phones To Get Unlocked Bootloaders*-*Eastern Morning Herald

Motorola talks unlocking bootloaders; starts with Motorola Photon Q

Photon Q Should Feature An Unlocked Bootloader - General News - RootzWiki - RootzNews - RootzWiki

Which is fine, but VZW won't allow unlocked boot loaders now, at least not outside of the Nexus.

 

[vnyislesv]

ive had the razr since day 1... 11/11/11... absolutely love it. but last night i was messin with my buddys S3 on the tmobile network. it completely DESTROYED my phone. im a light user, txt/pix/internet, pretty much all i use it for, a few hours a day max. my phone was slower loading websites, slower loading txt messages, on and on and on.

i was VERY impressed with taht phone in only 5 minutes. battery life isnt an issue with me, i want power and speed. is the S3 really worth it? the razr HD going to own it?

im in a strong 4g area at work and weak 4g at home, if its idle, ill get 4g, but once i play with it, ill switch to 3g right away, and the 4g network on my phone pisses me off.

weird.

 

[rushmore]

4g reception is better on the GS3, but 3g is better on the Razr. Call and text range seem the same.

 

[Bandera Fever]

vnyislesv, when comparing your Maxx (on your VZ) to your friend's GS3 (on his T-Mo), could the networks (rather than the phones) be the main factor for the Internet speed differences?

 

[rushmore]

If the bootloader is a reason avoiding the GS3, there is now an app that unlocks the bootloader on the GS3. Must of course be rooted first, but it is scary simple to unlock once rooted with the app. One button click and done.