New 4g LTE Phone for VM

[MtnDew31693]

Whelp, went on the Virgin Mobile website a few minutes ago to pay for my next month's bill and saw they had a new phone that supported Sprint's new 4G LTE. The Samsung Galaxy Victory. Has anyone seen this phone or know anything about it? Any experience with Sprint's LTE? I was considering selling my phone and grabbing an S2 or HTC One X and heading to T-Mobile but this makes me rethink that.

It seems to be a pretty decent phone, comparable to the 3d. According to the coverage map I get 4g LTE service where I live (no wimax).

Should I keep my 3d and wait for a better LTE phone to come out or take the plunge and go for it? Would T-Mobile still be a better option?

Edit: One of my friends that works at best buy said if I brought in a 4g LTE phone from sprint he could activate it for me on VM. Is this actually possible? If it is I might try to get my hand on an Evo 4g. (I'm not talking about modifying my ESN, I know that is illegal. My friend said he could simply add a Sprint phone's ESN to the "allowed" list on VM.)

 

[clc130]

Just noticed this as well. Their LTE coverage is currently limited to major cities according to the map, and non-existent in Pittsburgh, so I will be sticking with my Evo 3D for the time being since there is wimax here.

 

[Palmetto Fellow]

This is exciting news indeed. With the launch of VM's LTE offerings, it will be no more than a matter of time before I can buy that same phone for $150. Or perhaps, the GS3 for $300by the end of this year.

Since it's already running JB, the developers aren't going to lose any functionality with their ROMs. It will be interesting to see the first JB HTC phone offered. That means higher versions of Sense with everything playing nicely together.

 

[MrJedi]

I have pretty much decided I am hanging on to my Evo V until it breaks, since it doesn't seem like my dream phone will ever be made: physical buttons, and keep the search button dammit! People use it!

 

[Tejer]

I saw the new phone up there this morning as well, as nice as 4g LTE sounds as well as Jellybean, the phone specs are just not enough to really be an upgrade to me. You're actually losing some screen size on that phone, the processor is not really any better, the phone is bulkier from reviews I have read online for Sprint branded versions, and the camera in my opinion is pretty sub par for only one camera.

For what it is, i'd rather use out my Evo V and wait to see what else they offer. Hopefully the Galaxy S3 or something along that line. It may be different if it were only $150 for the phone, but for another $300 i'll just use the Evo and let a few more updates to CM10.1 Wild for the Night come out and that will basically be the new phone (since 3D wont work with that rom) minus having 4g LTE (which I dont even know covers my area yet).

Edit: Just looked and Arizona does not even get 4g LTE either, as well as just about all the West Coast, minus what looks like 2 cities in California, i'd guess Los Angeles and maybe San Diego?)

 

[Watagump]

Downgrade for me IMHO.

 

[circleoflife]

This phone doesn't seem exciting. Just has Jelly Bean and LTE otherwise the EVO 3D seems like a better phone.

I'm waiting until virgin drops the galaxy S3 this summer or fall. I wonder what will be the price of it towards the holiday season..$299?. They did get the S2 so why shouldn't virgin get the S3?

 

[Palmetto Fellow]

This phone doesn't seem exciting. Just has Jelly Bean and LTE otherwise the EVO 3D seems like a better phone.

I'm waiting until virgin drops the galaxy S3 this summer or fall. I wonder what will be the price of it towards the holiday season..$299?. They did get the S2 so why shouldn't virgin get the S3?

They're squeezing every bit of life they can out of the gs2. IMHO, that phone needs to be around $150 soon . I think Straight Talk sells it for $300 still . We shouldn't see a gs3 until they clear out all the s2 models, so watch for price reductions, that should be the first clue that something is about to happen.

 

[Watagump]

I saw the new phone up there this morning as well, as nice as 4g LTE sounds as well as Jellybean, the phone specs are just not enough to really be an upgrade to me. You're actually losing some screen size on that phone, the processor is not really any better, the phone is bulkier from reviews I have read online for Sprint branded versions, and the camera in my opinion is pretty sub par for only one camera.

For what it is, i'd rather use out my Evo V and wait to see what else they offer. Hopefully the Galaxy S3 or something along that line. It may be different if it were only $150 for the phone, but for another $300 i'll just use the Evo and let a few more updates to CM10.1 Wild for the Night come out and that will basically be the new phone (since 3D wont work with that rom) minus having 4g LTE (which I dont even know covers my area yet).

Edit: Just looked and Arizona does not even get 4g LTE either, as well as just about all the West Coast, minus what looks like 2 cities in California, i'd guess Los Angeles and maybe San Diego?)

Not LA or Long Beach or Glendale, those would be the 3 closest to me. All 3 of those are listed as coming soon.

 

[davidmargolin]

wow... nyc doesn't even have lte... would have expected that to be 1st on their list...

 

[MtnDew31693]

wow... nyc doesn't even have lte... would have expected that to be 1st on their list...

I'm actually very surprised my relatively small town of Athens has it. Although it looks like it's kind of catching the outskirts of Atlanta coverage, but its still fully covered.

 

[greenghost2212]

wow... nyc doesn't even have lte... would have expected that to be 1st on their list...

The Bronx and some other areas is seeing lte as I type.

 

[pbailey212]

The nearest lte to me is Fresno CA. I'm in eastern Washington state. I wonder if one of those signal boosters would work...

 

[EazySteve]

The SGS2 is still sold at Sprint stores in Sacramento since they don't have LTE yet. It so weird that Sprint is trying to sell all these LTE phones without coverage. LTE is working it's way east from the bay area though, but nobody at the Sprint stores have any idea when Sacramento will get LTE, so my EVO V 4G is the best bet right now.

Plus, I'm not too fond of downgrading screen size and it appears this Samsung Galaxy Victory™ 4G LTE is pretty bulky. Looking forward to LTE phones on Virgin and Boost though as soon as we have coverage

 

[Jaxmoto]

Whelp, went on the Virgin Mobile website a few minutes ago to pay for my next month's bill and saw they had a new phone that supported Sprint's new 4G LTE. The Samsung Galaxy Victory. Has anyone seen this phone or know anything about it? Any experience with Sprint's LTE? I was considering selling my phone and grabbing an S2 or HTC One X and heading to T-Mobile but this makes me rethink that.

It seems to be a pretty decent phone, comparable to the 3d. According to the coverage map I get 4g LTE service where I live (no wimax).

Should I keep my 3d and wait for a better LTE phone to come out or take the plunge and go for it? Would T-Mobile still be a better option?

Edit: One of my friends that works at best buy said if I brought in a 4g LTE phone from sprint he could activate it for me on VM. Is this actually possible? If it is I might try to get my hand on an Evo 4g. (I'm not talking about modifying my ESN, I know that is illegal. My friend said he could simply add a Sprint phone's ESN to the "allowed" list on VM.)

I cannot even fathom that a Best Buy employee has access to add ESN's into Sprint's database and to register with VM. Sorry, sounds like maybe he is guessing he can, or is just blowing smoke.

VM phones are in VM's database for being activated to an account. The ESN is also filtered every time you send/receive anything at the tower level which is Sprint. The new 4G is Sprint as well (unlike WiMax that is through Clear). Not even Sprint VIP support could get my phone cleared through Sprint's network when VM screwed it up out of the box.

The phone itself looks like a port of the Galaxy Blaze that was running on the T-Mobile network. Effectively a S2 with a smaller screen.

Will probably be a good amount of price shuffling and a couple new phones in the next month or so since LTE is now official on VM, so the best bet would be for people to wait it out if you can put up with your current phone.

 

[Palmetto Fellow]

The SGS2 is still sold at Sprint stores in Sacramento since they don't have LTE yet.

I just saw a Sprint ad (perhaps on this website) offering free SGS2s.