Don't know which one...

JesseBanks · Nov 11, 2013

LG F3, LG F9 or Kyocera Hydro XTRM...I am leaning towards the hydro but I read it has poor call quality...what do you guys think?

Rukbat · Nov 11, 2013

The first thing to consider is which carrier covers the areas you need service in. The greatest phone in the world, on a carrier that has no service where you are, is useless.

Once you've decided on the carrier, you may have narrowed your choice a little. (And Brand X, Model Y phone on carrier A may be terrible, while the same phone on carrier B may be great.)

JesseBanks · Nov 11, 2013

I'm in Newark NJ and the area is excellent with 4G on my LG motion...I would like a phone like the motion with a bigger screen or better...

ChiweN · Nov 11, 2013

JesseBanks said:
I'm in Newark NJ and the area is excellent with 4G on my LG motion...I would like a phone like the motion with a bigger screen or better...

I don't have experience on any of those devices, so hopefully someone else will chime in on that, but I wanted to clarify something regarding coverage.

The LG motion is a cdma phone, all of the above phones you mentioned (actually all of the phones offered by metro now) are gsm phones operating on the T-Mobile network. Metropcs is slowly phasing cdma out.

What this basically means is that just because you have great 4g coverage with the motion, you might not with one of the new gsm phones. That's unlikely though, more than likely you will see a pretty significant increase in data speeds, lte and what not. However, something to keep in mind at least, is that gsm signals tend to have a harder time than cdma in terms of wall penetration, so your signal might not be as strong indoors as it was with your cdma phone.

This is also partly because of the high frequencies T-Mobile uses, in comparison to the larger carriers. The lower the frequency (in mhz) the better. Hopefully T-Mobile will spend some money in the next spectrum auctions. We'll see ;-)

JesseBanks · Nov 11, 2013

Thanks very informative...just got to make the right decision...I want this phone to be good for atleast a year and a half

averagewonder · Nov 11, 2013

hey remember youtube can be your friend.

ChiweN · Nov 11, 2013

averagewonder said:
hey remember youtube can be your friend.

Very informative post. I'm sure he didn't think of researching it at all. I mean, why would anyone want to hear the opinions about the phones from people that actually own them and use them every day, right? Right? ;-)

Jesse, just going based off specs, I'd say the hydro is the better phone between the 3, at least from my view point, but it really depends on what's important to you. The f6 has an extra half inch of screen estate over the other 2, but the hydro has more than double the amount of internal memory as the other 2. Both LG phones have a somewhat larger battery, but the hydros battery isn't a deal breaker, it's decent enough.

All 3 have pretty much the same muscle power, 1.2 dual core for all. I didn't check to see what chipset is being used in each tho.

Really, I'd save for an s4 though, or at least an s3. You'd definitely not regret it.

averagewonder · Nov 11, 2013

ChiweN said:
Very informative post. I'm sure he didn't think of researching it at all. I mean, why would anyone want to hear the opinions about the phones from people that actually own them and use them every day, right? Right? ;-)

Jesse, just going based off specs, I'd say the hydro is the better phone between the 3, at least from my view point, but it really depends on what's important to you. The f6 has an extra half inch of screen estate over the other 2, but the hydro has more than double the amount of internal memory as the other 2. Both LG phones have a somewhat larger battery, but the hydros battery isn't a deal breaker, it's decent enough.

All 3 have pretty much the same muscle power, 1.2 dual core for all. I didn't check to see what chipset is being used in each tho.

Really, I'd save for an s4 though, or at least an s3. You'd definitely not regret it.

Well since he came here asking for our opinions he is obviously in the research step we could have been the first and only step he has taken. He didn't say if he has looked anywhere else besides here did he? I know slot of people that something like that just skips there mind. How's that for informative?

JesseBanks · Nov 12, 2013

Thanks again guys for the advice...I did check YouTube and Amazon reviews I even checked the us cellular reviews because they had the hydro months ago...I came here just to get advice from metro users that's current more or less

Thanks...I will make a decision and post my thoughts to help anyone

Spec2nirvash · Nov 12, 2013

ChiweN said:
What this basically means is that just because you have great 4g coverage with the motion, you might not with one of the new gsm phones. That's unlikely though, more than likely you will see a pretty significant increase in data speeds, lte and what not. However, something to keep in mind at least, is that gsm signals tend to have a harder time than cdma in terms of wall penetration, so your signal might not be as strong indoors as it was with your cdma phone.

I wish there was an easier way to find out if the GSM coverage would be better or worse then the CDMA you're on. I recently switched to TMO network and now I have 3G that's faster than the 4G I had on CDMA, and most known dead zones I had around here were gone. Yet I have heard some say their CDMA coverage was way better. Maybe it's just me, but I couldn't make any sense of T-Mobile's 50 shades of pink coverage map so I just chanced it. Glad I did.

ChiweN - Good to see you back!

unnamedny · Nov 13, 2013

JesseBanks said:
Thanks again guys for the advice...I did check YouTube and Amazon reviews I even checked the us cellular reviews because they had the hydro months ago...I came here just to get advice from metro users that's current more or less

Thanks...I will make a decision and post my thoughts to help anyone

You are going to have LTE service in that NJ part for sure. Main difference between L9 and F3 is screen sizes. L9 has a little smaller battery and because of screen size bigger than F3 a little worse battery life. I can't talk of Hydro, but it seems like its a heavy duty phone which is intended to be used under extreme conditions because its shock proof and water resistant. I would check it out in person if I were considering buying it.

OcalaFlGuy · Nov 13, 2013

You know there IS one advantage to this Hydro no one has mentioned yet.

That's also happens to be a pretty good reason for the carriers NOT TO carry a phone like it.

Insurance. Or more precisely, the LACK of insurance...

It seems kind of silly to Pay Extra every month for insurance for a phone that's already water and impact resistant.

That's a Good Deal for prospective new Hydro owners, not so much for Metro.

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

mrsmumbles · Nov 13, 2013

I have the plain old Hydro (on Boost Mobile but now just on WiFi) so I'm not sure about the model you're asking about.

But the plain old Hydro suffered from routine freezes and random reboots. I'm not sure if that's a carry over problem in Kyocera or if it's just the original Hydro's awful specs.

Oh, also random and routine turning on a bunch of apps by itself and then freezing. You really don't want that to happen when you're trying to make a phone call.

Shabbypenguin · Nov 13, 2013

Spec2nirvash said:
I wish there was an easier way to find out if the GSM coverage would be better or worse then the CDMA you're on. I recently switched to TMO network and now I have 3G that's faster than the 4G I had on CDMA, and most known dead zones I had around here were gone. Yet I have heard some say their CDMA coverage was way better. Maybe it's just me, but I couldn't make any sense of T-Mobile's 50 shades of pink coverage map so I just chanced it. Glad I did.

ChiweN - Good to see you back!

sensorly.com check tmobile coverage, its not foolproof but its far better than the alternative of not knowing

JesseBanks · Nov 16, 2013

Finally bought a new phone...I got the F6 and it's a great phone...the F3 and L9 we're a little old and the hydro a little bulky wasn't to impressed if it was a 4.5 screen maybe...been on a 3.5 forever...feels like I got a tablet lol

Thanks for all the advice

saptech · Nov 16, 2013

JesseBanks said:
Finally bought a new phone...I got the F6 and it's a great phone...the F3 and L9 we're a little old and the hydro a little bulky wasn't to impressed if it was a 4.5 screen maybe...been on a 3.5 forever...feels like I got a tablet lol

Thanks for all the advice

I'm looking at getting the F6 also, next month. Keep us informed on how Metro is working out with the phone.

Fox Mulder · Nov 17, 2013

JesseBanks said:
Finally bought a new phone...I got the F6 and it's a great phone...the F3 and L9 we're a little old

Wondering why you'd make this comment. The F3 and F6 are nearly identical as far as hardware and specs, with the main difference being the larger display on the F6. That said, you should see the same excellent performance on the F6 as on the F3.
One significant distinction between the two, if you are inclined to root your phones there is currently no reliable working root for the F6 but there is for the F3.
If you're interested in more specific discussion about the F6, there is a forum for it-
LG Optimus F6 - Android Forums

JesseBanks · Nov 17, 2013

I made the F3-F6 comparison without thinking the F3 came out around the same time...they both have the same specs but a F6 has a 4.5 screen compared to 4.0 screen on a F3...if I had to pick which I did F6 is the way to go...but if you don't want to pay a little extra get the F3 over L9 because of lack of LTE...

Fox Mulder · Nov 17, 2013

It's not just the lack of LTE with the F9, it's also older hardware and has a smaller battery than the F3/F6. I did my homework before I decided on the F3 and I've been very happy with it so far.

saptech · Nov 17, 2013

Are you all talking about the L9 or is there an F9? I like the F3 also but would like to try the F6 for the slightly bigger screen (4.5"). My current phone has a 4" screen. I think a 4.5" would be a good fit for me.

Gman9831 · Nov 17, 2013

saptech said:
Are you all talking about the L9 or is there an F9? I like the F3 also but would like to try the F6 for the slightly bigger screen (4.5"). My current phone has a 4" screen. I think a 4.5" would be a good fit for me.

He means the L9 since he said lack of LTE

MrGlowy · Nov 18, 2013

I just got the F3 yesterday (free thanks to best buys warranty). It replaced my motion. I'm very happy with the signal and battery life of this bad boy.

Don't know which one...

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