Wheres my phone geeks at?

[Stick Figure]

So recently Sprint decided to tear down a bunch of 3G towers to put up 4G towers. Which I'm sure will be great EVENTUALLY but in the mean time my phone has absolutely terrible service. Even worse is it carries over the area that I live, have my shop, and where I work, so I'm thinking it may be time to move on. Its been two months already and I don't buy for a second that it will really be fixed anytime soon.

So I'm thinking about switching over to t-mobile. Now the question becomes which phone?

I was really happy with my original EVO 4G phone and happy enough with my EVO 4G LTE until this happened (although I liked the OG evo more in a lot of respects).

So Samsung Galaxy? HTC One? or Sony Xperia ZL? I hate the feeling of the Galaxy, the HTC one's camera disappoints me in a lot of respects (has a lot of good as well), and as much as I like the feel of the Sony, it is lacking a bit spec wise.

Apple isn't even a consideration for me. I use my phone a lot to tether, and don't want to have to "jail break" my phone to do what should be a basic function.

any suggestions or comments? anyone have t-mobile and hate it? anyone work for Sprint and have a real completion date or a better offer than $25 off my bill for two months? lol

 

[Thai]

Sprint LTE will be quite good (in the near future). So, IF you can hold out, then I would. BUT, I would NOT buy any current Sprint phone!!! See this thread for more info: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/off-topic/140737-sprint-network-tri-band-lte-future.html

Now, for T-Mo. IMHO, I would stay clear of TMo! T-Mo works great in big well-populated cities, but sucks elsewhere...such as when you go from one city to another. In addition, in smaller cities, there may not be much coverage. Their 4G is also very limited...probably even worst than Sprint!

IMHO, if you're willing to go away from Sprint, then there is ONLY one place that I would go...STRAIGHT TALK. The price is probably better or the same as T-Mo. Difference? It uses AT&T network (cell, 3G, and HSPA+). Thus, coverage is excellent for both cell and data...much different than T-Mo. A few caveats:

1. You have to buy phones at outright...no contract discounts. This is OK because the savings from going to ST will make up for the full pricing within 10 months of so. If you do the math, then it will even pay for termination fee!

2. No LTE (4G). You will not have access to ATT 4G. BUT, this is OK too. GSM 3G data speed is considerably faster than CDMA 3G (Verizon and Sprint). In addition, while not as fast as 4G, HSPA+ is very fast and widespread. So, you're not giving up much by settling for HSPA+.

3. IF you do go to ST, then you MUST get the ATT version, NOT Verizon version!! If you go with Verizon ST, then you are stuck with 3G speed on Verizon (inferior to 3G on ATT). In addition, there is no HSPA+ on Verizon...thus, again, you're stuck with 3G only.

With ST, you can buy any GSM phone that you want (iPhone 5, Galaxy S4, etc.)...so, you are NOT restricted to phones on ST website.

 

[Thai]

Now, as for which phone to buy, that is a loaded question!

Galaxy S4 is probably the best of the Android bunch. Why? Its processor is slightly better than HTC One because Samsung overclocked it. The screen is, arguably, the best right now, surpassing HTC One in most respect except for full brightness. It is also (unofficially) the toughest & most water-resistant phone...see Youtube video: ??? S4? ?? ???? ??? ???? ???! (GALAXY S4 Reliability Test) - YouTube

I hope that you have held the GS4 because I thought that it looks/feels better than my Note 2 and GS3. In addition, outside in good light, GS4 has the best camera to date. (iPhone 5S will likely dethrone it in the future.) Lastly, as per Samsung, GS4 will get a software update in the near future where you can push "some" apps to SD card which allows you to free up internal memory. Remember, the app itself must allow you to do this for the feature to work. (As you may know, ever since Android 4.0 ICS, this app-to-SD feature has been deleted for security reason. So, it is nice to see Samsung bring this feature back on their phones.)

HTC One is a good phone but the problem is that it compromises too much on certain things. HTC camera is arguably the most useful at this time for Facebook/Twitter folks. However, it is also the crappiest camera in good light due to the low MP count...you can't get around that. The design itself is near flawless and of high quality. The speakers are great. The problem is that HTC is under a lot of financial stress. Their engineers and top execs are dropping like flies!! Why is this important? In the past, I would recommend HTC because of their software updates etc.. This has not been the case recently where software updates are rare to come by and their older phones get abandoned. This MAY be different with HTC One...because this is their flagship and they "promise" that this will be different. Time will tell. It has no SD card nor replaceable battery...the price you pay for an all aluminum chassis.

Sony smartphones are nice, but they always seem a step behind! Not sure why given that Sony has a big budget (unlike HTC) and apparently works closely with Google on a lot of things. I believe that their top phone is still using last year's processor (S4 PRO)...WTF?! Their screen technology sounds impressive (Bravia engines, etc.), but real world testing is lackluster. Their camera is supposed to be excellent...look at what Apple iPhone can do with Sony's sensor! But, again, somehow, despite 13 MP etc., Sony camera just doesn't add up. The other problem with Sony is that Sony has not shown that it will support their device in a timely manner.

Apparently, there is a new Sony flagship coming out later this year...called Sony Xperia i1. This will have the S800 chip (top dog for 2013) along with point-&-shoot rivaling camera. I know that Sony can make great cameras in small packages (see Sony RX100). So, I am hoping that Sony has learned its lesson and go full blast with this Xerpia i1 phone.

Unfortunately, none of the Android companies are as diligent as Apple in providing timely after-sale software updates. Samsung is probably the best right now.

I save the best for last...let's talk about Nexus and Google Edition phones. IMHO, if you're going to go GSM ST (which I HIGHLY recommend), then I would go with these phones!! For one, these phones get the quickest updates...near Apple like! The software updates will be better than other Android phones...because it does not have to go thru the manufacturer nor does it go thru the carrier (biggest slowdown point). I am particularly interested in Google Edition phones (HTC One and GS4). Remember, you have to buy these phones at full retail pricing. B/w the two, I would pick GS4 Google Edition, even though it costs $50 more than HTC One Google Edition. Now, if you want to keep things cheap, then get the Nexus 4, which is a pretty good phone for the price. Still, I would get GS4 GE if money is not tight. Rumor has it that Sony will soon make an Xperia Z Google Edition too. Again, I would still get GS4 IMHO.

The only phone that would sway me away from GS4 is iPhone 5S. So, you may want to wait for that (if you can). iPhone 5S is Apple of course...but with the new iOS7 and upcoming camera, it should be pretty good. Recent iPhone cameras have been class-leading (if that is important to you). In addition, later this year, Samsung will make Galaxy Note 3, which should have the latest and greatest Android stuff (camera, S800/Exynos 5 chip). Note 3 will have stylus (same as my Note 2) but it will be as big or slightly bigger than Note 2. It is a big phone, but the tradeoff is that the screen is huge and thus you don't get eye fatigue looking at it for a long time.

Basically, if you can hold out till October, then you will have badass choices!

Sorry about length...and Good luck.

 

[Thai]

Apple isn't even a consideration for me. I use my phone a lot to tether, and don't want to have to "jail break" my phone to do what should be a basic function.

What tethering are you using on Android? Is there an app?

 

[Stick Figure]

What tethering are you using on Android? Is there an app?

pdanet

PdaNet -- Use your iPhone as a Wireless Router for your PC/Mac

I will have to look in to straight talk, as I haven't done any research on them. I know data wise if I don't have an unlimited plan i'm pretty much screwed which is where t mobile peaked my interest first.

Phone wise the Galaxy has a lot of good, I just didn't like the actual feel of the phone .. the overly rounded corners and full gloss back make me feel like it would end up on the ground in short order. For an actual tough smart phone the Sony Xperia Z takes the cake. it is actually submerge able, but I've heard all that water proofing actually hurts the sound quality.

The HTC one has some great ideas with the speaker set up, but the camera is kind of a dealer killer for me. I love the 2.0 aperture, but the low megapixel count means it can miss detail. I use my camera a LOT (like 1000+ pics in my phone right now) but not for fun pics or scenery or anything. I have a real camera or two for that. What I use the phone for a lot is detail shots of something before tear down. For example we have an emissions analyzer at work that looks like one hell of a science experiment, so before I tore into that for repair I grabbed the phone and snapped a lot of different photos. Then if there are questions I can walk over to the PC and grab them from the drop box and check them out. Are they great photos? hell no, there camera phone pics. But the detail is good enough to tell which hoses go where.

I'm also disappointed with the signal from the EVO 4G LTE that I currently have and don't know that I trust HTC to have gotten the metal body/signal issues ironed out on the one either.

One thing I will miss about my EVO is the car dock.

Having the power plug on the side of the phone allows it to charge the second I slide it into the dock. Then I just plug in the audio jack if I want audio (USB music output would have been awesome). The dock takes the phone into "car mode" automatically which just makes things even easier for me. I have thrown out $90 for a pair of these docks already as well, so loosing these hurts in more ways than one.

okay I'm done rambling for now.

 

[-JD-]

Why can't you tether with an iPhone? I do it all the time...

 

[Nero]

If you use over 1 GB of data a month, do not go with Straight Talk. Tmobile has the best prices BY FAR, but make sure you check out coverage maps for your area first. I actually bought a phone through Tmobile for a week to check coverage, then returned it within the 14 days. It cost me less than $20 bucks, and I was able to see exact coverage in my area. If you plan to buy from the carrier just get whatever phone you like, but if you do non-contract or prepaid then I would have to suggest the Nexus 4. It's just not worth spending $600+ on a cell phone IMO.

Coverage Maps | Sensorly
Find the best cellphone carrier | RootMetrics

 

[eddiebx]

Why can't you tether with an iPhone? I do it all the time...

Because we're not Canadian :lol:

Do you mean tethering legally for free, or paying for tethering? I don't follow all the latest phone news but I think most of the big carriers here in the US don't allow free tethering, you gotta pay to play

 

[-JD-]

^Ya, i tether legally for free. Is tethering in the US only restricted on the iPhone and not on other phones? If so, wtf?

 

[Stick Figure]

PDAnet allows you to tether with out the carrier knowing you are doing it. Some of the carriers offer plans, but they want a LOT more for that. I'm already paying for 3 phones with them, plus $10 additional for each phone because they are "high data usage" phone or some crap like that. I'll have to double check the bills for the last couple of months and see what our data usage actually is.

 

[DannyLlama]

PDAnet allows you to tether with out the carrier knowing you are doing it. Some of the carriers offer plans, but they want a LOT more for that. I'm already paying for 3 phones with them, plus $10 additional for each phone because they are "high data usage" phone or some crap like that. I'll have to double check the bills for the last couple of months and see what our data usage actually is.

Thanks for the tip!

I read some of the reviews for PDAnet, most of them said that it will only allow for web browsing, not much more. Is that true for you?

 

[Thai]

PDAnet allows you to tether with out the carrier knowing you are doing it. Some of the carriers offer plans, but they want a LOT more for that. I'm already paying for 3 phones with them, plus $10 additional for each phone because they are "high data usage" phone or some crap like that. I'll have to double check the bills for the last couple of months and see what our data usage actually is.

Sprint charges $10 for smartphones because of data usage associated with smartphones. I disagree with this for the most part because up till now (or near future), Spring 3G data speed is downright pathetic. According to Speednet app, 3G download speed on Sprint is around 0.5 Mbps! How the hell someone can download any amount of data per month at that speed is beyond me!

However, to give me hope, yesterday, at my brother's house, Speedtest app gave me 17 Mbps download speed on Sprint's LTE. This was rather shocking because prior to yesterday, Sprint LTE was running around 8 Mbps. So, it does look like Sprint's recent country-wide upgrade of LTE towers are working as advertised!!

IMHO, non-carrier tethering is illegal (at least in USA)...and no amount of self-justification will change that. But to some degree, illegal tethering is fine, but I hope that people don't abuse it! I have heard that some actually has no internet at home...so, they illegally tether their laptop, TV, etc. to their phone to stream Youtube and Netflix movies. And then they whine and cry when the carriers shut them down and/or put a cap on data usage! The problem with this is that, over time, carrier will be forced to put a cap on data usage across the board for everyone. If you're gonna tether illegally, then PLEASE don't grossly abuse it.

 

[Thai]

^Ya, i tether legally for free. Is tethering in the US only restricted on the iPhone and not on other phones? If so, wtf?

Non-carrier tethering is illegal for any phone, including iPhone. Carrier offers "hotspot" for additional fees. Hotspot is Wifi tethering.

The only thing that iPhone has over Android in regards to carrier is that iPhone has no carrier-specific bloatware. But, luckily, for Sprint, bloatware is minimal compared to other carriers.

 

[Thai]

Phone wise the Galaxy has a lot of good, I just didn't like the actual feel of the phone .. the overly rounded corners and full gloss back make me feel like it would end up on the ground in short order. For an actual tough smart phone the Sony Xperia Z takes the cake. it is actually submerge able, but I've heard all that water proofing actually hurts the sound quality.

If so, then get a thin TPU case. See Youtube abuse testing on the GS4. It will likely be stronger than most other phones. As noted above, Sony Xperia is a generation behind in technology for the most part.

BTW, not sure if this matters, but Nexus and, possibly, Google Edition phones have Wifi tethering (hotspot) for FREE on the phone. But, like noted above, if you abuse it, then Straight Talk or Net10 will either throttle you down after 1.5GB or kick you off. TMo is unlimited but its coverage is not very good. If you do have good TMo coverage, then plan to stay in your city all your life without traveling!

 

[-JD-]

That seems like complete BS. If I'm paying for X amount of data each month I should be able to use that data however I want. Since I know the phone is capable of tethering that must mean the carrier is blocking it. It's like ISP's that won't let you use your own router. Once the data reaches the device I'm subscribing on IMO it's no business of theirs what I do with it from there.

 

[Thai]

That seems like complete BS. If I'm paying for X amount of data each month I should be able to use that data however I want. Since I know the phone is capable of tethering that must mean the carrier is blocking it. It's like ISP's that won't let you use your own router. Once the data reaches the device I'm subscribing on IMO it's no business of theirs what I do with it from there.

Actually, it is in the contract I believe on how you should (and how you should not) use the data. So, yeah, if you abuse it (via tethering for endless Netflix movies and/or use it as your primary internet provider), then you're breaking the contract...and thus, illegal. I would love tethering for free...but I also understand that there are individuals who abuse it. And soon enough, these individuals' action lead to capping of data for everyone. If you want unlimited tethering, then suck it up (aka don't be cheap) and buy the carrier tethering plan.

 

[Thai]

Link: Terms & Conditions

"To ensure the activities of some users do not impair the ability of our customers to have access to reliable services provided at reasonable costs...Sprint reserves the right, without notice or limitation, to limit data throughput speeds or quantities or to deny, terminate, end, modify, disconnect, or suspend service if an individual engages in any of the prohibited voice or data uses detailed below or if Sprint, in its sole discretion, determines action is necessary to protect its wireless networks from harm or degradation....

Examples of prohibited data uses: Sprint data services are provided solely for purposes of web surfing, sending and receiving email, photographs and other similar messaging activities, and the non-continuous streaming of videos, downloading of files or on line gaming. Our data services may not be used: (i) to generate excessive amounts of Internet traffic through the continuous, unattended streaming, downloading or uploading of videos or other files or to operate hosting services including, but not limited to, web or gaming hosting; (ii) to maintain continuous active network connections to the Internet such as through a web camera or machine-to-machine connections that do not involve active participation by a person...."


I am sure that every carrier will have these limitations in their contract to consumer. So, yeah, if you abuse the hell out of your data via illegal tethering, then you are indeed breaking the contract...and thus, are liable to the carrier's termination or throttling actions against you. I am NOT against tethering, but if you're using 5GB of data per month via illegal tethering, then you ARE abusing it!

 

[20034RunnerV84x2]

My sister had T-Mobile and they would steal money from her. Take it out of her account without her knowing, overcharge, and coverage in & around Atlanta was absolute crap.

I have AT&T. I recently added a line, got a iPhone 5 and put the new phone on my line. LTE coverage is awesome, and around my house I usually get 4-5 bars of service and full LTE coverage. Plus I got a iPad Mini for $350 from them (you only get the price when you get an iPhone 5) and I didn't open it so I turned around and sold it as new and made a nice profit :biggrin2: