if buying today - would you buy your note 3 again

zipred · Aug 15, 2014

Bhelios said:
I've had my Note 3 for about 4 months now... would repurchase in a heartbeat. It seemed comically huge for about 2 days -- after that it just seems right. My wife's S4 now seems comically small.

Nothing about the N4 is a must have for me... the N3 is superb. At this point, I cannot imaging getting 2 years minimum out of it. Additional plus: you're probably going to see some great prices before the year is out.

When it comes to Note 3 vs. Note 4 I agree, for my usage and preferences there's nothing compelling about the N4 especially since they've apparently decided to retain the same 5.7" display size.

The other reason it's not for me is the retention of the physical home button. After using and enjoying the ultra fast on screen buttons of my Nexus 5, multitasking on the N3 is both cumbersome and quite sluggish.

Fortunately the good news is the upcoming Vibe Z2 comes equipped with the same buttons as my Nexus 5, a huge 4,000 mAh battery and a gorgeous 6.0" display. Everything I've read indicates this Z2 is an exceptional smartphone.

Even if I have to import it myself I'll be purchasing one the moment they're released.

Gearu · Aug 16, 2014

Absolutely.
I really despise how the "legacy" menu capacitive is being replaced by a window switcher.

Willdiver · Aug 16, 2014

Basically, no. My last 2 smartphones were Moto, and it's looking like my next one will be also. They always just plain worked. Fewer bugs, more robust construction, and much much better reception and call quality. Sammy makes a pretty phone, but I was happier with my RAZR MAXX.

zipred · Aug 16, 2014

Willdiver said:
Basically, no. My last 2 smartphones were Moto, and it's looking like my next one will be also. They always just plain worked. Fewer bugs, more robust construction, and much much better reception and call quality. Sammy makes a pretty phone, but I was happier with my RAZR MAXX.

I've enjoyed a long history of MOTO phones, both feature phones (aka "dumb phone") and nearly every smartphone they've made. When it comes to call quality they're one of the finest. I hope going forward they improve and thrive.

Reggie3 · Aug 16, 2014

ovrrdrive said:
Today I'd wait for the N4. If I didn't know there was a 4 coming I'd buy this phone again in a second. It's a great phone.

Same here

zipred · Aug 16, 2014

Reggie3 said:
Same here

What I particularly like about the Note 3 is it has everything I want, and only one thing I don't want.

Sadly due to several external influencing factors, like Apples overwhelming influence, the Note 4 will have quite a few things I don't like. "Features" such as a fingerprint reader, enhanced health data collection components, and other questionable software and hardware "improvements"

Simon_Gardner · Aug 18, 2014

I have solved my poor to awful phone reception problem at home (at least) when it became exacerbated by the dreadful radios in smartphones. I recently got a home femtocell. Full bars everywhere in the house now.

zipred · Aug 18, 2014

Simon_Gardner said:
I have solved my poor to awful phone reception problem at home (at least) when it became exacerbated by the dreadful radios in smartphones. I recently got a home femtocell. Full bars everywhere in the house now.

A good friend of mine just implemented the solution you have, at his home in the foothills. The results are nothing short of wonderful. One of those situations where he wished he would have done it sooner.

Trout Hunter · Aug 20, 2014

I just bought a Note 3 last week, upgrading from a Note 1. I want to sing the praise of my new phone. For the first time in owning a smart phone I can go the full day without plugging it in. I run my business from my phone and by 5pm I still have 50-60%. I also root my phones, but with 32g memory and 64g sd card I find I may not need to. The speed of the phone is great, doing all I need it to do, so I may not root this one. Go figure. I put in a wireless charging kit and I have not had to plug in yet. When I do decide to transfer files via usb, the speed of the usb 3 is terrific. I also talk through a Plantronics Legend and the bluetooth 4.0 is so much better.
I would buy this phone in a heartbeat, if you need the lifting power this offers.

mchi5 · Aug 21, 2014

Had my Note 3 for about 5 months and love it so far. However, if you're still looking for a phone, I'd say wait if you can for the note 4 which is just around the corner, or take a look at the LG G3 also, along with the note 3

Sometimes the sheer size of the note 3 does get to me. And the battery isn't very good. I had to resort to rooting my phone, and removing all the bloatware that came pre-installed and using an extended battery (Anker 6400 mah extended battery) .

rushmore · Aug 21, 2014

zipred said:
I've enjoyed a long history of MOTO phones, both feature phones (aka "dumb phone") and nearly every smartphone they've made. When it comes to call quality they're one of the finest. I hope going forward they improve and thrive.

I was considering the soon to release X1, but apparently no sd slot so it is dead to me now.

Note 3 or Note 4 seems to be my next device.

Just waiting to see how much of an improvement the N4 really is before choosing.

bubbameat · Aug 21, 2014

So after repeated visits to ATT to play with phones. I've decided I want to come back to the Note series (I had the original Note). Currently using the htc One m7. I want a tweener between my m7 and ipad and the Note 3 is very compelling (I definitely would use this much improved SPen vs the Note1). How much more do we think the price will drop when the Note 4 debuts?

Epicurean · Aug 21, 2014

bubbameat said:
How much more do we think the price will drop when the Note 4 debuts?

I'm waiting til Black Friday to see what the best deal Sprint is offering on the N3/N4. If there's a big discount on either one I'll go for it. If there's something else comparable with a big discount I'll consider that too.

drexappeal · Aug 21, 2014

Simon_Gardner said:
I have solved my poor to awful phone reception problem at home (at least) when it became exacerbated by the dreadful radios in smartphones. I recently got a home femtocell. Full bars everywhere in the house now.

Hmmm...maybe this would be enough for me to switch to T-Mobile. Thanks for posting this up, Simon.

Simon_Gardner · Aug 22, 2014

drexappeal said:
Hmmm...maybe this would be enough for me to switch to T-Mobile. Thanks for posting this up, Simon.

I can't fault it. It plugs into my router (or you can plug into something like a Powerline connector) so an ethernet connection. And a power supply. It only (at least on Vodafone UK) allows use by phones registered to it which you do online. So that means you aren't providing a "tower" for all your neighbours on your personal broadband account. Range is good and walls aren't proving a problem.

The only glitch I have had is if there is a power failure - I do get those - or the router ever has to be rebooted, it takes over an hour for the femtocell to re-synch with the phone company's computers.

Other than that, it's plug and forget. When not being actually used (voice phone or text) the broadband footprint is trivial. You could use it to feed your phone internet connection too but I wouldn't on the plan I'm on.

Oh and there's a pass-through on this model both for power and ethernet.

SkyJackpot · Aug 22, 2014

Epicurean said:
I'm waiting til Black Friday to see what the best deal Sprint is offering on the N3/N4. If there's a big discount on either one I'll go for it. If there's something else comparable with a big discount I'll consider that too.

A new trailer for the Samsung Galaxy Note

[Ready to Note?] Your Note for Handwriting - YouTube

JimSmith94 · Aug 23, 2014

drexappeal said:
Hmmm...maybe this would be enough for me to switch to T-Mobile. Thanks for posting this up, Simon.

I'm on Sprint and have also thought about switching to T-Mobile. They both have Wifi calling, so what advantage would a femtocell provide?

drexappeal · Aug 23, 2014

JimSmith94 said:
I'm on Sprint and have also thought about switching to T-Mobile. They both have Wifi calling, so what advantage would a femtocell provide?

I was under the impression, initially, that wifi calling didn't boost signal, but people seem to think it does, when the phone isn't in use. Not sure which info is accurate. Gonna check with t-mobile to verify. I was thinking a femtocell device would allow t-mobile to be an option for me.

Sprint has the airave, which I have and use, but it's just for helping boost signal, not necessarily maintaining signal.

JimSmith94 · Aug 23, 2014

drexappeal said:
I was under the impression, initially, that wifi calling didn't boost signal, but people seem to think it does, when the phone isn't in use. Not sure which info is accurate. Gonna check with t-mobile to verify. I was thinking a femtocell device would allow t-mobile to be an option for me.

Sprint has the airave, which I have and use, but it's just for helping boost signal, not necessarily maintaining signal.

I don't know if Wifi calling boosts the signal either, but I connect to Wifi on my phone at home for data anyway, which is faster than my cell, and it doesn't use phone data. With Wifi calling, I don't use any daytime minutes when I call or receive calls to/from landlines and 800 numbers. An extra bonus is that people say my calls are much clearer, probably because my cell signal is so crappy here.

Since all of these devices and apps have to be connected to Wifi anyway, what difference does the carrier make? I read that Sprint may be discontinuing the Airave, since Wifi calling does the same thing without the extra hardware.

After 12 years with Sprint, I'm still thinking about switching to T-Mobile, but both have little to no signal in some of the places I go. I would think that with Wifi and Wifi calling on both, that either carrier would be the same, but I would like to hear from others about their experiences.

drexappeal · Aug 23, 2014

JimSmith94 said:
I don't know if Wifi calling boosts the signal either, but I connect to Wifi on my phone at home for data anyway, which is faster than my cell, and it doesn't use phone data. With Wifi calling, I don't use any daytime minutes when I call or receive calls to/from landlines and 800 numbers. An extra bonus is that people say my calls are much clearer, probably because my cell signal is so crappy here.

Since all of these devices and apps have to be connected to Wifi anyway, what difference does the carrier make? I read that Sprint may be discontinuing the Airave, since Wifi calling does the same thing without the extra hardware.

After 12 years with Sprint, I'm still thinking about switching to T-Mobile, but both have little to no signal in some of the places I go. I would think that with Wifi and Wifi calling on both, that either carrier would be the same, but I would like to hear from others about their experiences.

Most important for me would be to receive calls and text messages, as well as prevent excessive battery drain from the phone searching for signal. I was told that wifi calling does this, but I am not convinced by relatives experiences at my house. T-mobile gets faster speeds everywhere else I frequent, as compared to Sprint, which would be my motivation for switching. Only reason I have stayed for 14 years was due to home signal

zipred · Aug 23, 2014

drexappeal said:
Most important for me would be to receive calls and text messages, as well as prevent excessive battery drain from the phone searching for signal. I was told that wifi calling does this, but I am not convinced by relatives experiences at my house. T-mobile gets faster speeds everywhere else I frequent, as compared to Sprint, which would be my motivation for switching. Only reason I have stayed for 14 years was due to home signal

I've been using T-Mobile and AT&T concurrently for some time now. Interestingly T-Mobile suffers from the worst marketing plan on the planet as it relates to their greatly improved network. They have, in my opinion failed miserably to make the public aware of the huge expansion, improvements in both equipment and connectivity of the current modernized network. Over the last year in many markets within the USA they've made great gains which I've personally experienced because I travel extensively for business and pleasure. In my home market connectivity equals or exceeds AT&T,'as does the outright speed.

Next up is the topic of WiFi calling which I began taking advantage of out of sheer curiosity. It works very well in the wide variety of buildings and locations I've used it in. Is it stronger? Frankly I don't know because every time I've used it I've also had a useable cellular connection due to the fact that the new network is now place.

Because I am indeed a very enthusiastic mobile computing and communication specialist, I stay very close to the GSM carriers, have developed some excellent personal relationships with decision makers that have kindly kept me abreast of their advancements.

JimSmith94 · Aug 23, 2014

drexappeal said:
Most important for me would be to receive calls and text messages, as well as prevent excessive battery drain from the phone searching for signal. I was told that wifi calling does this, but I am not convinced by relatives experiences at my house. T-mobile gets faster speeds everywhere else I frequent, as compared to Sprint, which would be my motivation for switching. Only reason I have stayed for 14 years was due to home signal

Were your relatives using Wifi calling on your router's Wifi and they had excessive battery drain? Most of the time I don't see any signal bars on my phone when I'm using Wifi calling, but I don't know for sure if that's how it's supposed to work or not.

I have used Wifi calling on my brother's Wifi where I get no Sprint signal at all, and haven't noticed any extra drain from signal seeking. Problem is, there is no T-Mobile signal there either. Guess I need to start reading the T-Mobile forums to see how they are doing with Wifi calling.

Simon_Gardner · Aug 23, 2014

JimSmith94 said:
I don't know if Wifi calling boosts the signal either, but I connect to Wifi on my phone at home for data anyway

So does everyone else.

Since all of these devices and apps have to be connected to Wifi anyway, what difference does the carrier make? I read that Sprint may be discontinuing the Airave, since Wifi calling does the same thing without the extra hardware.

A femtocell is not the same thing. As far as your phone is concerned it just "sees" a very good signal indeed and works in the normal way for phone calls and texts. No additional phone software is involved. It works for all other phones including dumb phones used at home so long as they are on the same network (which in our case they are). That's, in this company's case, up to a limit of 32 different phone numbers.

After 12 years with Sprint, I'm still thinking about switching to T-Mobile, but both have little to no signal in some of the places I go. I would think that with Wifi and Wifi calling on both, that either carrier would be the same, but I would like to hear from others about their experiences.

AnonGuy · Aug 24, 2014

Not having iMessage is a big deal so I'm thinking about jumping back, since the iPhone will have a bigger screen and they're fixing the Cloud Storage and App Interop issues that were a showstopper for me in iOS 7 with the next OS Revision. Too many people I know use iPhones, and the lack of iMessage means I have to keep a Facebook Account open and use Facebook Messenger to communicate with them.

Moving across will give me a bit more flexibility on that end.

However, if Google siphons Google Hangouts and Photos off to their own services and drop the Google+ Requirement for them, then that may change things.

If I don't know by the time the iPhone drops, then I'm not going to wait for them, though. Time's ticking.

SkyJackpot · Aug 24, 2014

AnonGuy said:
Not having iMessage is a big deal

Just curious...what about the people that don't have or don't want to use iMessage? As we know Android is the most popular operating system right now so its safe to presume that you already have and will meet many more people over the course of your lifetime who will also have an Android phone and like millions of others around the world have chosen to use an open communication system like WhatsApp or similar to communicate cheaply using their internet data.

So if that is the only reason for you to consider getting an iPhone have you checked whether your friends also have WhatsApp or Skype? It seems kind of harsh to yourself to choose an iPhone over an Android because you think people in your social circle only use iMessage, and prevent yourself from having the benefits of an Android phone.

if buying today - would you buy your note 3 again

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