F3 on MetroPCS

[Fox Mulder]

Anyone have one on Metro yet? Seriously thinking about this phone but would like to see some real-world reports from other Metro users. Spec-wise it looks like a good GSM replacement for my Motion, only downside I can see is the lower internal storage. Hopefully that can be addressed by rooting. I've asked for a root sub-forum for the Metro F3, so far it looks like Motochopper should work for it based on the posts in the Verizon root section.

 

[lokio]

I just received mine today. I was switching from the Motion to the F3. I couldn't activate online because I'm grandfathered in to the old $55 unlimited plan. When I called they said my plan is not compatible with the new phone because it's a GSM phone not CDMA. I said bump that and had them cancel my activation process. I need to think about that over night. I'm pretty sure we were told we could keep our old plans.

 

[Fox Mulder]

I just received mine today. I was switching from the Motion to the F3. I couldn't activate online because I'm grandfathered in to the old $55 unlimited plan. When I called they said my plan is not compatible with the new phone because it's a GSM phone not CDMA. I said bump that and had them cancel my activation process. I need to think about that over night. I'm pretty sure we were told we could keep our old plans.

From the discussions in the MetroPCS forum it appears that you will have to go to the $60 plan. IMO although it does suck I don't think another $5/month is the worst thing in the world especially if it gets you on a better network. I don't plan to let that stand in the way of changing from the Motion to the F3 should I decide to do so. So they told you it has to be activated in a store?

 

[lokio]

The only reason why I couldn't activate it online was because I didn't want to select a new plan. Activation should work online and over the phone.

 

[romanm2012]

I wanna get this phone (for now) but that 1.2GB will hold me back. Hopefully there's an easy way to get the apps to the micro sd card

 

[Fox Mulder]

So, any Metro people have one of these yet?

 

[lokio]

I activated my F3. Reception and data speeds are great and battery life is awesome. Coming from a Motion, my biggest gripe is the lack of storage. I'm using Link2sd, but it's still not enough for me. Also every now and then my apps that are linked via link2sd will randomly disappear from my drawer until I reboot. I haven't figured out why yet.

If you don't require much storage for apps then the phone is great though.

 

[Fox Mulder]

I activated my F3. Reception and data speeds are great and battery life is awesome. Coming from a Motion, my biggest gripe is the lack of storage. I'm using Link2sd, but it's still not enough for me. Also every now and then my apps that are linked via link2sd will randomly disappear from my drawer until I reboot. I haven't figured out why yet.

If you don't require much storage for apps then the phone is great though.

Hm I'd suspect an issue with your SD card since Link2SD depends on that second partition, perhaps it's not recognizing it all the time for some reason. Maybe try a different SD card, is it an off-brand?
I assume you rooted with Motochopper? Any issues with that?
What area/market are you in? Have you had the opportunity to see how the signal penetration is inside large buildings?

 

[lokio]

It's a class 10 SanDisk Ultra 32 GB. I've got it partitioned at about 15GB per partition. I just formatted the Link2sd to FAT32 to see if that helps at all.

I did root with Motochopper. No issues that I've noticed. I'm in the Tampa area and signal has been much better than it was with CDMA. When I first got the phone I had to change it from GSM/WCDMA auto to GSM/WCDMA/LTE auto. For the most part I've been in LTE with it dropping to 4G every now and then. I just did a speed test. LTE: 4.55 Mbps down, 1.30 Mbps up, 4G: 5.59 Mbps down, 1.55 Mbps up.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Well I went and got mine this afternoon. Freaked out a bit at first because it took over an hour before I was getting data, I thought something was wrong with the phone or SIM. But all good since then.
Rooting with Motochopper took about 30 seconds, I've been setting the phone up the way I want fairly close to how I had the Motion. Since that was rooted as well I was able to move a lot of stuff over with Titanium Backup that would otherwise be lost (apps with their data, wifi hotspot data, call logs and texts).
Best I've seen on LTE is 23M down, not too shabby. That's about 5 times faster than I was getting on Metro LTE. Now I just have to use it around my usual spots for a while to see if coverage is improved or not.
As for the SD card they want you to format to FAT32 in the first place, so that may have been your problem.

 

[whatsitsname]

Optimus F3

Did you guys try to use the native move to sd from inside menu/setting/app first? It doesn't work for all apps but I did manage to move a few.

You can also moved saved apps from another phone to the F3 using helium app. It doesn't require a computer if you are not rooted though. If rooted, yes I would prefer titanium backup as well.

 

[lokio]

Have you been able to WiFi tether?
..
I did try moving some apps to sd natively, but didn't have much luck.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Optimus F3

Did you guys try to use the native move to sd from inside menu/setting/app first? It doesn't work for all apps but I did manage to move a few.

You can also moved saved apps from another phone to the F3 using helium app. It doesn't require a computer if you are not rooted though. If rooted, yes I would prefer titanium backup as well.

Are you sure those apps actually went to the external SD? "SD Card" may refer to the "Internal SD" section of the phone's storage.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Have you been able to WiFi tether?

Tried briefly with the native app, it doesn't seem to work even with a user-agent switch. The wired USB tether doesn't work either but EasyTether does, so it's possible a third-party wifi app will work.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Also make sure you check your wifi calling if you want to be able to use it, mine wouldn't work because I had to register an E911 address with Metro (pretty dumb since you could be calling from anywhere). A quick call to customer service took care of it.

 

[Murf1]

Optimus F3

Did you guys try to use the native move to sd from inside menu/setting/app first? It doesn't work for all apps but I did manage to move a few.

Where you finding this at? I knew where it was on Android ver. 2, but when I look in manage apps on the F3 there isn't even a button for it - greyed out or otherwise.

 

[whatsitsname]

Where you finding this at? I knew where it was on Android ver. 2, but when I look in manage apps on the F3 there isn't even a button for it - greyed out or otherwise.

It's on my F3.

 

[Murf1]

It's on my F3.

Thanks for the pic. I don't see that button on mine. So I'm guessing unlike Android 2, where it would show the button but greyed out if you couldn't use it, on Android 4 it must not show the button at all if the move isn't possible.

 

[unnamedny]

I want to get that phone also. I love my LG motion, but its time for it to go. Does F3 runs gsm t-mobile network? If so I'm going to get it.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Yes it's on T-Mo GSM.

 

[unnamedny]

count me in I got my girlfriend L9 a month ago, but it's too big for my pocket. Now it's just left to figure ebay price for my LG motion.
I like Motion, but I wish the screen was a little bit bigger. Also I need an extended battery for it. F3 should be enough for a day of heavy use. As long as it can run Strava for 8-9 we are going to get along just fine :-D

 

[mikeca]

Anyone using this in the Fresno / Clovis area, Metro just opened like 10 stores in the area and I'd like some idea of coverage and how the phone works here?

 

[AppleUser]

I activated my F3. Reception and data speeds are great and battery life is awesome. Coming from a Motion, my biggest gripe is the lack of storage. I'm using Link2sd, but it's still not enough for me. Also every now and then my apps that are linked via link2sd will randomly disappear from my drawer until I reboot. I haven't figured out why yet.

If you don't require much storage for apps then the phone is great though.

This decreased F3 storage is a big mistake by Metro. Metro's bargaining power was BEFORE buying these phones. Metro could have addressed these issues and demanded improvements in both the internal storage and processor speed before accepting this model.

 

[edplayer]

$80 right now after a $50MIR in store only ($20 more online)

 

[thecdn]

$80 right now after a $50MIR in store only ($20 more online)

Is this for a new line only? Metro is bad for hiding that fact.