Was going to jump in!

It seems to me that since you posted this in the Droid Maxx forum that you already made up your mind.

The Droid Maxx is the best phone I have ever used. I never think about charging the battery and the screen is great.

If you want to have a debate on phones I can move this thread to the forum where phone comparisons are discussed.

My recommendation ... go into your carrier and handle the phones you are interested in ... within 5 seconds of picking it up you will know if it is the one for you. If you don't know ... don't do anything.

... Thom

I love the Maxx, but I bought it on launch day. It's now more than 5 months since it launched. If you buy subsidized, you'll be eligible for another upgrade when the phone has been out for 29 months. That's a long time these days (though the pace of updates seems to be slowing, which is good.) HTC One phones should have a new model in the coming weeks/months as well as Samsung's Galaxy line.

Honestly, if I were you and I was making that decision today, and I *could* hold out to see what the S5 will be, I think I'd do that. As a matter of fact, I was about three months past my upgrade date from the Droid 3 when the Maxx came out. I decided to wait for the fall rather than just get a Galaxy S4. Right now I'm glad I did.

The Droid Maxx was released with slightly older system on a chip hardware at the time it was released - it came out weeks before the first Snapdragon 800 phones came out, which also have great low power processing for touchless controls and active display that the Maxx and Moto X engineered onto the S4Pro chipset.

All that said - the Maxx is a great, great phone. The Galaxy S5 would have to be a big improvement over the S4 in order to interest me if I were in the market for a new phone when it comes out.

Thom said:

My recommendation ... go into your carrier and handle the phones you are interested in ... within 5 seconds of picking it up you will know if it is the one for you. If you don't know ... don't do anything.

... Thom

Click to expand...

Yup, that is the best advice.

I'm in the same boat... sort of. I'm due for my upgrade next week, and I am currently running the Razr Maxx. I am deciding right now between the Mini and the Maxx. I am looking at the Mini since I feel the Razr Maxx is nearly too big for me, and to cram the same size screen that I currently have onto a smaller phone does sound appealing to me. But at the same time, I don't want to give up this battery... or carry around a charger hookup system (The sales guy today told me about a $70 battery back that can get you 2 or 3 charges before it needs plugged in).

I guess the point of that story is that I went down to one of our Verizon stores a few hours ago and looked at them in person. The Maxx actually didn't seem much larger than this phone. And the screens on the Maxx and Mini amazed me. Like Thom said, it is an excellent idea to go to the store and check the phones out. You may like how the Maxx feels and snag it up without waiting for the next releases. And if you feel like waiting, there is always that too.

I went from the Bionic to the Maxx and the size was ... 1/4inwider and 1/2in longer. I carry them in my shirt pocket. There is no problem.

I got the Maxx the day it was released.

I was waiting and waiting and waiting for the Moto X to get released and the surprising Maxx/Ultra/Mini was released. When I picked up the Maxx (3-4 weeks before Moto X release I knew it was "my phone".

Only you can tell.

All the discussion with as many people as you want isn't going to do it.

... Thom

My son has my old Gnex. It's dying. Truly it is. He has 4 batteries for it and one of them is the extended battery. He goes through 6 batteries per day. That means he has to constantly have one on charge at all times. I've updated his ROM and done all of the maintenance that I can.

On Wednesday I ordered him a new Maxx without hesitation through the Edge program. I looked at everything out there and there is NOTHING that compares to our Maxx. Hands down. Since I bought mine in August my father, mother-in-law, step mother and son now and his best friend all have a Max at my suggestion. That's 6 Max's.

My Maxx is still running awesome. I picked up a Moto X because I got the coupon on their last sale and I have a 5 line share plan so someone will need a phone in the near future. But otherwise I've not felt I should've got something that came out later. The Note is too big for me, as is the One Max which is a larger HTC One, and I handled the G2 and wasn't impressed. It felt like a cheap copy of the Galaxy S series.

The reasons I would be wary of the S5 would be they're planning to up the resolution from 1080, which means if they haven't significantly increased battery efficiency or upped the battery size, you're probably looking at the same or worse battery life compared to the S4. As far as them scaling back TW, I'll believe it when I see it. Other than maxed out specs, all the software add ons are what drives their sales. It may look cleaner, but I don't think it'll be as smooth as running near stock like the Motos do.

And, IMHO, the main areas where Moto beats Samsung and most other OEMs for that matter is reception and GPS. I came to the Maxx from an S3, and had HTC phones before that. I'd always heard that the Moto phones were better in those departments, but I'm a believer now. My old S3 doesn't show an LTE signal, but the Moto X & Maxx do. My GPS lock is a lot quicker than my S3 was, like 10-15 seconds vs 1-5 minutes in some cases. As far as call reception, I had my Network Extender go down a few weeks back (steel siding really cuts the cell signal down). I had the same thing happen when I was still using my S3 last summer. The difference, with my S3 I had static and voice cutting in and out. With my Maxx, I didn't know the NE was down until I walked past it and saw the red lights indicating there was an issue. When talking to the Verizon tech I mentioned that it must be working to some extent since I was talking on my Maxx and had no audio issues. The tech assured me that my phone was showing connected to a tower. I was making calls with no audio issues with a signal of -102dBm. It drug my battery down since I was connecting with such a low signal, but it still made flawless calls. To me that's excellent.

Going to the store and handling phones you're interested in is extremely wise advice. Especially with a phone like the Maxx whose raw spec sheet does not do justice to its actual performance. Even compared to the S4 on the spec sheet the Maxx looks like it comes up short. But mess around with it. It is extremely fast and fluid. The screen is excellent. The Active Listening thing might seem like a gimmick but I use it constantly. And in addition the battery life is epic.

I've had the Droid Maxx since December which I bought at full price ($449), gave to my wife to wrap and give me for Christmas. It replaced the Maxx HD that I got the previous December which replaced the Razr Maxx from the previous year. (Yes, there is a pattern.)

I have been partial to Motos in that the audio quality of the phone is excellent. And my battery now even lasts a little longer once I got 4.4 (KitKat). Also, my office is a dead zone for other carriers while I have 3G 98% of the time and sometimes 4G will come in for a while. The data connection is very stable.

I spend weeks reading on my next phone. I read various forums and do dozens of Google searches to get many opinions. My idea is that I don't completely base my choice on how it feels in my hand. Yes that matters, but that's a small part. I want to know the concerns and problems of current owners.

I have read that some owners of the S3's and S4's complain of data drops and unable to keep a solid signal during a call. And while the Maxx doesn't have the "best" quality screen by some opinions, it is designed to use less battery. The same with other designs of the Maxx operating system. I would rather my phone be a fraction of a second slower than eat the battery by 5pm.

I am lucky in that I have never had to exchange a phone due to disappointment or situations that I wasn't aware of.

I suggest basing your decision on the overall experience users have. Looks alone will cause disappoint in my opinion, although I love the look and feel of the Maxx.

I would suggest searching this forum for the opinions and experinces of others who have the Maxx. Take it a step further and check the postings of the Galaxy owners. I usually try to learn and base my decisions on the problems that others experience.

Good luck with your choice.

Droid Maxx is also the best phone I have ever owned. I did a lot of research and chose the Maxx. Very happy I did. The voice activation and recognition is absolute amazing.

... and the best place to find discussions of this phone vs. that phone are at ... Device/Carrier Comparisons - Android Forums.

I suggest you check it out.

This thread could be moved there if the OP requests it.

... Thom

Get the Maxx. Put it in an Otterbox Defender. Done for 2 years.

After reading piscestg's post, there are some thing's I forgot to mention about my previous S3. The main reason I came to the Maxx like most people was longer battery life. By the point I picked it up I had been on my S3 around 13-14 months. Battery wise to go from 8am to 10pm it would have to go on the charger at some point. I wrestled with picking up a fresh battery but it seemed ridiculous for a phone just over a year old. The display also has burn in where the status bar is in landscape mode. I've had amoled screened phones for longer than that and they didn't get burn in. So I don't know, the S3 kinda soured me on Samsung.

Let me second (or third) the comments about Motorola's connection strengths. In my experience, the speaker volume / call volume is exceptional for the Motorola phones, and the connection/reception is very good.

Here's what reminded me of that. Last summer I had a Samsung Galaxy Nexus that stopped working, and I was able to connect up my antique OG Motorola Droid that I still had lying around. Not everything worked great on the OG Droid, but as a phone it was amazing. Where the Nexus volume was always very shaky on phone calls, the Droid was ridiculously good. And it found a signal in my office where the Nexus never could.

Those two things were constant annoyances. After all, it's a phone! Oh yeah, I remembered: Motorola invented the mobile phone category back when they were the size of a shoebox!

So as attractive as the S4 was, I decided to avoid Samsung phones this go-round. As I suspected, the connection and voice quality on the Moto Droid Maxx was so good that I never think about it any more.

Your experience may vary, but add these thoughts to your considerations.

Yeah. It's a phone. I need a phone. Every day. Some people don't but I do.

dhbuckley said:

Yeah. It's a phone. I need a phone. Every day. Some people don't but I do.

Click to expand...

Of every mobile device I've ever owned on VZW... that's an old Samsung clamshell dumb phone, BlackBerry Storm, Droid Incredible, Galaxy Nexus. The Maxx is FAR AND AWAY the better of these phone for voice quality. I can't speak to the newer Samsungs, S3 and S4, the HTC One, but of the one's I've owned I'm impressed.

Cincybearcatfan said:

My son has my old Gnex. It's dying. Truly it is. He has 4 batteries for it and one of them is the extended battery. He goes through 6 batteries per day. That means he has to constantly have one on charge at all times. I've updated his ROM and done all of the maintenance that I can.

Click to expand...

Sounds like my old GNex. I'd pull it off the charger when I left for work just after 7:00am. By the time I got there at 8:00, it would be down nearly 20% without me even touching it. Just sitting on my desk, the extended battery would be totally drained by lunchtime. It got to the point where I had to keep it plugged in almost all the time.
With the Maxx, on a day of average use, I still have about 40% battery left when I go to bed.

Resistance was futile. I jumped in. Maxx to arrive either Wed. or Thur.
Can't wait. Wanted to do in store pickup but that wasn't a option when I ordered it.
Hope it's all you guys say it is.

It's more ...

... Thom

piscestg said:

I've had the Droid Maxx since December which I bought at full price ($449), gave to my wife to wrap and give me for Christmas. It replaced the Maxx HD that I got the previous December which replaced the Razr Maxx from the previous year. (Yes, there is a pattern.)

I have been partial to Motos in that the audio quality of the phone is excellent. And my battery now even lasts a little longer once I got 4.4 (KitKat). Also, my office is a dead zone for other carriers while I have 3G 98% of the time and sometimes 4G will come in for a while. The data connection is very stable.

I spend weeks reading on my next phone. I read various forums and do dozens of Google searches to get many opinions. My idea is that I don't completely base my choice on how it feels in my hand. Yes that matters, but that's a small part. I want to know the concerns and problems of current owners.

I have read that some owners of the S3's and S4's complain of data drops and unable to keep a solid signal during a call. And while the Maxx doesn't have the "best" quality screen by some opinions, it is designed to use less battery. The same with other designs of the Maxx operating system. I would rather my phone be a fraction of a second slower than eat the battery by 5pm.

I am lucky in that I have never had to exchange a phone due to disappointment or situations that I wasn't aware of.

I suggest basing your decision on the overall experience users have. Looks alone will cause disappoint in my opinion, although I love the look and feel of the Maxx.

I would suggest searching this forum for the opinions and experinces of others who have the Maxx. Take it a step further and check the postings of the Galaxy owners. I usually try to learn and base my decisions on the problems that others experience.

Good luck with your choice.

Click to expand...

Where did you find it for $449? Looking at buying at full price as well.

bgl321 said:

Where did you find it for $449? Looking at buying at full price as well.

Click to expand...

I always buy my phones from my local corporate Verizon store. They always match their website prices. I bought it the second week of December for $449. A few days before Christmas, the website reduced the price to $399. I went to the Verizon store and I was credited $50 since I was still in the first 30 days. I think it's a price guarantee that they have. I was very surprised to see the full price on the website up to $599 now. I think I got a good deal.

BTW- I want to keep my unlimited data, hench I buy at full price.