I'm about to upgrade phones and looking at options between SGS5 and LG G3. I'm coming from a SGS3, so most question are in relative terms to it.
Only down sides I see right now are: no bootloader unlock (on either), screen brightness/dimness not as good as SGS5 (amolded vs ips lcd), and battery life.
Bootloader I'm up to speed on (have actually been reloading a few pages way to often this evening, good things can happen on Monday's right?). Does root and xpoused modules replace enough functionality to be passable right now? I'm use to messing with everything (led, added onscreen nav to the SGS3, embedded tweaks in the ROM, hotspot) of the mindset that nothing should inaccessible.
For the screen: seems to that the SGS5 gets dimmer and brighter. I work outside and use it in bed a lot so this is a fairly important point. BUT, the SGS3 is fine. How does the screen bright/dark compare to the SGS3?
Battery life: on par with SGS5, with the sammy doing slightly better most likely due to the QHD. On my SGS3 I get average ~18.5hr (by GSam stats), custom ROM, kernel, tweaks, everything... Need better than this though, have a second battery almost everywhere (bag, car, work) if I need it, just depends how heavy the day gets. What has been the battery experience so far, and anticipate it getting better when the bootlock is shattered.
Nothing about the SGS5 moves me other than the IP67 rating, but the port plugs would get annoying with a case I think, and if it's bootloader is broken either not sure if I could stay with it and touchwiz taint.
Thanks for any input.
wrong thread, apologies, thought I was on the Q&A.
My G3 is much brighter in sun than my GS3. For max brightness, turn auto-off and slide to 100%.
My G3 gets way more battery life than my GS3. At the end of the GS3, maybe the batteries were just going bad, but I did have 2 different ones that I had swapped during the time I had it.
Root/Xposed gets me everything I want, so I don't really care about the bootloader. Actually, stock was pretty darn good as far as customization capabilities.
I agree with lexluthor. Brightness on the G3 is MUCH better than the GS3. I typically run 50% with auto brightness and I think that gets brighter than the GS3 did. The G3 does not get as dim though. I use my phone as my alarm clock and it took a while to get used to how bright it is at night even at 0% brightness.
G3 has much better battery life than the GS3. When I switched, I struggled to get through a day without having to charge. Now I usually have over 50% battery at the end of the day. However, I'm sure part of that was degradation of the battery after two years.
Screen on the g3 is brighter than the gs3 but not as bright as the gs5. Plenty bright to see outside IMO tho.
Battery life is slightly better (maybe) than the gs3 but it's negligible, not as good as the s5.
Xposed helps, and even tho the g3 still offers customization..it isn't as much as the g2 offered. Its give or take with the s5 because they both offer different customizations.
The g3 looks much better that the s5, even being bigger, it feels great.
You're splitting hairs between the 2, and honestly, the g3s major selling point over the s5 (QHD) is barely noticeable in most cases. The s5 still has one of the best displays available. The g3 and s5 both have exceptional displays.
There are some hiccups and imperfections throughout the g3 software, so just be aware of it. Great phone, but a lot of room for improvement
I just refuse to buy another Samsung phone due to KNOX and voiding your warranty even if you return to stock.
No thanks.
The G3 looks better and has better ergonomics.
Also the GS5 is 16GB Flash and 2GB RAM vs 32GB Flash and 3GB RAM for the G3.
You are less likely to get that "out of memory" or low memory warning on the G3.
I came from the gs3 and honestly i miss it. I was rooted running liquid smooth and that phone was a beast. Xposed on the g3help
g3 helps but still a lot to be desired. Bootloader is the key. To happiness for me.
jaguarpaw said:
I came from the gs3 and honestly i miss it. I was rooted running liquid smooth and that phone was a beast. Xposed on the g3help
g3 helps but still a lot to be desired. Bootloader is the key. To happiness for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, if that's the case you are more likely to see a LG G3 unlocked than the GS5.
The GS5 bootloader is signed with SHA256 just like the GS4 and there is a bounty of almost $20K that is still uncollected after a year.
After MDK on the GS4 there is no LOKI and only Safestrap.There is Safestrap for the S5 but you are limited to TW variants of ROMs.
Anyway, good luck.
I gave my GS4 to my daughter which was an upgrade from a GS3. I have not looked back.
Read lots of reviews on both. Gs5 five came out slightly ahead in most and lg in display. My wife has a gs4. She reminded me how well we loved lg phones. I had 4 and she had 3. I have been running mine 3 days now. Glad to be back.
tech_head said:
Well, if that's the case you are more likely to see a LG G3 unlocked than the GS5.
The GS5 bootloader is signed with SHA256 just like the GS4 and there is a bounty of almost $20K that is still uncollected after a year.
After MDK on the GS4 there is no LOKI and only Safestrap.There is Safestrap for the S5 but you are limited to TW variants of ROMs.
Anyway, good luck.
I gave my GS4 to my daughter which was an upgrade from a GS3. I have not looked back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do agree that if we had to pick, the g3 would get a boot loader unlock first. It's a shame that nobody is able to defeat these new "security" measures.
Honestly. I don't think the g3 will ever see a boot loader unlock either. The phone just doesn't seem all that popular. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. I'm just irritated that we can't do as we please with phones we own anymore. It was so fun on the Evo, Evo 3d and Evo lte. There was plenty of development, themes, stock and aosp roms, MIUI. It was great..
I wouldn't switch back to the gs5 even though I love the amoeled with an all black theme. I'm guessing we have a better chance at unlocked boot loader with the g3 though. If you want to have full customizability maybe consider the M8. I also tried that phone and have the whole s-off ROM thing done but I'll stick with the g3. With the m8 the camera is what puts it out of the comparison for me. The gs5 and g3 both get much better pics IMO. Battery seemed best for me with the gs5 then the m8 and last g3. I'm always near a charger so battery have never been an issue with me. You coming from the gs3 will notice a huge difference.
Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk
Thanks everyone.
Think that answers that, LG G3 it is. Just don't expect huge increase in battery and be patient and hopeful for the unlock.
@jaguarpaw - same here with LS, going to miss it but they'll get it running soon after unlock I'm sure.
Any case recommendations?
Running a Seido OBEX (worked in aquatic enviroment), can go a little lighter and not water-sealed but some would be nice.
Rippley05 said:
I do agree that if we had to pick, the g3 would get a boot loader unlock first. It's a shame that nobody is able to defeat these new "security" measures.
Honestly. I don't think the g3 will ever see a boot loader unlock either. The phone just doesn't seem all that popular. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. I'm just irritated that we can't do as we please with phones we own anymore. It was so fun on the Evo, Evo 3d and Evo lte. There was plenty of development, themes, stock and aosp roms, MIUI. It was great..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These new security features, especially those from Samsung, were co-developed by General Dynamics and the NSA so that GD could sell a secure phone. The previous phone was the Sectera Edge and it was based on old Windows Mobile.
See: http://www.gdc4s.com/secure-smartphones-prod-category-listing?taxonomyCat=511
The only way the Samsung phones are going to see the bootloader unlocked is if Samsung sells one that is unlocked.
There are no known backdoors for SHA256 and the computing time to brute force is just insane. So we know there is and will not be a bootloader unlock for the Samsung Galaxy "whatever".
HTC and LG currently do not sign their bootloaders with SHA256. There is hope.
HTC is easy, they have the S-OFF USB thing for people that refurb phones. Not cheap, but it works. They also will unlock the bootloader for all but AT$T and Veri$on.
Anyway, an unlocked bootloader is a "NICE" thing to have.
I will not buy a phone that cannot be rooted. Even if I have to stay on an older version of the firmware, root is a must for me.
Stock to stock from s3 to G3 is a no brainer. Now talking development, it's no where near the s3....yet. I'd imagine in time it will be.
I honestly haven't felt the need to root yet. I don't notice the lag people talk about but once in a blue moon on the apps drawer. I do at times run Nova and takes care of that.
Brightness is perfectly fine and should suffice for most. It's a little difficult in bright light, but no worse than my s3.
Battery life just depends what kind of user you are. Your s3 battery probably worse down after a while like mine did. Easy enough for our phones, just get a new battery. I generally get 16-18 hours in a work day with about 2 hours SOT. Off days, 13_14 hours with 3 hours SOT. Mix of 4G and wifi.
No idea how people off stock can get over 5 hours SOT. I am not one of those lucky ones.
Honestly never had amazing battery life besides getting extended batteries. Must just be hard on phones. Even get good signal most places as well...
Anyway, this is a great phone and much rather deal with lg software over Sammy... Way more polished and pleasing to the eye IMO.
Enjoying the discussion in this thread. I also have the S3 and the only reason I haven't bought the G3 is because of my love of tinkering with the OS.
I've had the OG Moto Droid (physical keyboard), Verizon Nexus, and S3... all 'hackable'. I can't quite come to terms with the potential of not having my bootloader unlocked for 2 years yet.
Related
Sorry I know if everyone asked these general questions about what to buy the forums would be flooded. Hopefully posting in the general section I'm not getting in the way of any important development threads or anything. I wouldn't ask if I weren't really struggling with some indecision here.
I'm a Verizon customer, still have unlimited. Using a Droid Bionic with Carbon Rom. I'm planning to buy at full retail price to leave my data plan in tact.
LG wasn't really even on my radar. HTC One was originally what caught my eye for the styling and great reviews, then the new wave of Droids came out, and now the G2. I think I'm fairly decided in terms of currently available devices and don't need help there, I would get the G2 if it came down to what's on store shelves right now. I've seen comments on the HTC One camera ranging from amazing to garbage, and not sure I would like Blinkfeed. The One speakers would be nice but can't say I really need internal audio from my phone that much. Doesn't sound like the Droid Maxx battery is really thrilling anyone, plus with upgrading at full retail price it kinda isn't all that interesting to jump from one Moto Droid to another, it'll just feel like a differently shaped Bionic. Moto X seems interesting everyone keeps saying it's the best all around form factor and the most refined that an Android device has ever felt, but I think I'm ready for a bigger screen and battery.
I'm more a bit hesitant that I'll get the G2 and then the Nexus 5 or Note 3 is going to be amazing. Although I'm well aware of the crop of Nexus 5 rumors, apparently not having Verizon's LTE band (then counteracted by a newer rumor saying there may have been an FCC filing for a separate Verizon LG device that wasn't the G2 and could be their variant of the Nexus 5). Plus a rumored smaller battery for the Nexus compared to the G2 which would lower my interest in it. Note 3... I'm not really dying to own my first Samsung but it seems it might outdo the G2 in a few ways, more Ram, SD card slot, etc. Obviously anything compared to the Bionic I have will seem nice, 32GB (or the 20-whatever that's actually available after system install) on the G2 will be plenty, I am used to working with the 16gb I have on my Bionic and am used to having to send stuff to my PC harddrive if my phone gets too full.
I've owned LG in my cell phone history, had an LG Dare and then an Ally for my first Android phone. Their hardware is alright but if I recall correctly they are pretty iffy about timely updates and then just stop supporting devices once they hit a certain age. But then Motorola pulled the same stunt during my Bionic ownership and most of you will know about how long it took Bionic to get system updates. I don't think I ever really saw myself going back to LG as I've felt the same indifference towards them as the rest of the community for a while now, although it kinda says something about them that they're still good enough to keep getting contracted for the Nexus devices. And then this G2 landed on my radar out of nowhere.
G2 camera sounds great with a few reviews sprinkled in that suddenly didn't think it was all that amazing, but I take pictures like crazy, camera is important, I think I may even sell my Sony Nex 3 full size camera as a way to help pay for a phone upgrade, the big camera just sits here and collects dust when I can have a camera in my pocket all day in a phone.
Important aspects to me, battery life (sick of charging my Bionic constantly, I think my extended battery is wearing out because I can just watch the percentage drop like a rock as I use it), quality display would be nice after settling for the Bionic with it's blah pentile screen, camera as I mentioned above, other than that I browse, text message, need Tethering, and use Pandora in my car. And I do care about developer support, I like messing with Roms, but if the factory Rom is decent once you get it set up, I can live with not having as large of a dev community as S4 might have or whatever. So yeah with that said it seems like a no brainer saying display-battery-camera, G2 sounds to be the best at all of that right now, I'm just worried about what else is coming out this holiday season. I know the Nexus announcement is rumored for next month but I just hate to wait just to find out it's not coming to Verizon or is definitely going to have some lame 2300mah battery. You know how it is when you're ready to upgrade...
-I suppose we'd all be guessing, but how good are people feeling about the G2 getting a KitKat update in a reasonable time window? This is the LG flagship so I would hope for good support, but the LG skin and addons are so overwhelming and heavily skinned devices always take longer to get their updates out. I'd be thrilled to get this phone but that would quickly turn to disappointment if we're waiting for 4.4 longer than anyone else.
-How is developer support looking? Have any big names pledged to add the G2 to their supported devices? I really like Carbon Rom on Bionic. I suppose it's a good sign that root and loki happened right away but so far Rom releases, especially for VZW, looks slow.
-Speaking of ROMs, do we have any idea if any of the stock stuff like knock-on etc will ever be able to be pulled and applied to a custom ROM, or is it pretty much a guarantee that if you switch to anything but stock you're going to be sacrificing a lot of the factory features?
-I noticed the G2 doesn't even come up on the Top Devices window at the first XDA forum portal, is that a bad sign for community interest in the device? HTC One, Note 3, etc all show up as the top devices on XDA right now. Is there a community behind this device or not really? Does everyone dig the specs but shy away from LG with their heavy skin?
-It WiFi tethering working with the current root exploit? I use my Bionic as my home internet access, on the stock ROM it seems like FoxFi will stop working after a couple of days like it's detecting that I'm tethering, on Carbon ROM I can tether for gig after gig of data and no issue.
-I've seen more than one person gripe about thermal throttling and the G2 starting to run like utter garbage in certain conditions. That would certainly suck to spend 600 on. Is this widespread?
I don't think I'd regret buying it immediately but I see the potential that only a few weeks into ownership the "oh crap why did I go with LG" feeling will start.
For the awesome specs...yes. Its a great deal for what you get. I don't know if tethering is working yet but I do know pda net works. Top be honest with my wife and I we were concerned about going share everything but I got a music unlimited service for 50 a year and downloaded everything instead of streaming. We went from using 6+ gb a month to under 2. And almost all the music is ultra high quality which works perfect with the 24 bit DAC. I stopped using Pandora because of this...I can skip all I want no commercials and choose weekday I want. I am very happy with the lg UI MINUS the giant size. So fast there had been a fantastic dev community modding the stock rom. Coming from a GNex I am ecstatic to get TWRP already. I wouldn't be too sure that anything coming out from Samsung will be crackle since the S4 is locked down now. Battery is about 9-10 hours of straight screen and 24+ with normal usage including hours on and off of heavy use. The only thing I don't like is the weak out of the box speaker but they have already modded ATT gain to make it better. The Btooth audio and head phone quality makes for this Times a million. I don't see anything else coming close unless you are Andre the Giant and like the phablet Note type. The one is bigger with a smaller washed out color LCD. The speakers rock but it's not worth the lack of general power. Grey a quick window case it's s fantastic.
Sent from my VS980 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Wow. There's about 5 minutes I can't get back.
Nexus5 will most likely never hit Verizon.
Big name devs? This phone is like a week old. Time will tell.
Wi-Fi tethering not currently working.
Buy it. If you don't like it inside of 14 days, return it. By that time, news of the nexus 5 should be out.
Thank you Devs. From my LG G2.
Wifi tether wasn't working on the S4 or One, I just had both phones on Sprint and T-Mobile with various roms and kernels. The only other phone I considered was the Note 3 but I can't stand the home button, would have liked the extra real estate but the G2 is still manageable for me to use one handed and a stylus would have been wasted on me.
This phone doesn't even need roms tbh.
I'd buy this phone all over again. No other phone feels like this one a atm.
LG G2
I was following every phone to come down the pipe for the last six months or more. I had an LG Nitro HD for my last phone and my first was the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. The nitro was terrible. The only time that phone ran right was on stock gingerbread. The development was fairly slow and the community small because it was att only and wasn't popular at that. I was about as put off by LG as they come.
Two days ago, I bought the G2, and I absolutely love it. The battery life really is phenomenal. I say this because it had kept up with my initial high usage love for a new phone. I plugged in last night with 34% left after having almost six hours of screen on time at 80% brightness. The note 3 might be great,but then again it might not. Only 100mah larger battery with a .5in larger screen concerns me a bit. The processor is already insane in the G2 so that will likely not make a difference for a bit. The ram shouldn't be an issue for at least an upgrade cycle at minimum.
Honestly, the biggest difference between this and the nexus is battery and screen. Nexus is 5 in and only had 2300mah so unless Kit Kat has major battery improvements that phone was no longer a option for me. The tipping point for this phone over the moto x in my case? Development and community. This phone already has a larger forum Than the moto x. That's not the only determinant but helps significantly. Go check the nitro forum, this phone is already almost as large... this phone had root on day one I think it was and boot loader bypass within a week of launch. And a Rom 2days later. It may not be as fast some devices but that is still damn fast. Will this be a great dev phone? Too early to tell but it looks promising. And with the nexus being nearly identical hardware wise, that could help too.
Hope that helps.
Sent from my LG-D801 using xda app-developers app
Hi all, I'm looking for a new phone to replace my Rezound. The Rez has been a great phone with CM10.1 installed, does everything I need and fairly quick too.
Here are my main criteria for selecting a new device (in order of importance):
Ability to keep my unlimited data plan, I'd rather not interact with VZW at all.
CM11 support with working camera/corder, navigation, and wifi tethering
Easy reliable root/s-off process
Excellent camera hardware. SGS5's kinda sucks, One M8 not bad, and we can't use LG GPro2 on VZW.
Excellent battery life, or option for extended battery. (With my usage habits I can get >52 hours from of my Rezound's extended batt and Kernel Tuner)
>32GB storage, prefferrably removable SDcard
As for keeping my data plan, I hope all I have to do is buy a phone from a 3rd party, swap in my SIM and continue life as normal. I know the current phones now use the mini-SIM or whatever, and that a normal SIM can be trimmed to fit. Will this work or do I have no choice but to involve VZW in the upgrade?
Thanks!
M8
The LG G2 is a good phone and it's battery will far surpass just about anything else out there, you can snag one for about $250-$300 on Swappa.com. It will meet most of your requirements.
If money isn't really a problem, I would wait and get the LG G3 and buy it outright.
As far as the SIM goes, just get a cheap cutter on Amazon or eBay, they work fine... even if you mess it up just take it in to a Verizon store and they will give you new one.
acejavelin said:
The LG G2 is a good phone and it's battery will far surpass just about anything else out there, you can snag one for about $250-$300 on Swappa.com. It will meet most of your requirements.
If money isn't really a problem, I would wait and get the LG G3 and buy it outright.
As far as the SIM goes, just get a cheap cutter on Amazon or eBay, they work fine... even if you mess it up just take it in to a Verizon store and they will give you new one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
G3 is not an option yet, bootloader is still locked and no AOSP ROMs.
One M8 looking like the best option at this point. :good:
md303 said:
G3 is not an option yet, bootloader is still locked and no AOSP ROMs.
One M8 looking like the best option at this point. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would likely be happy with either the G2, M8, or the G3... it is only a matter of time before the G3 is "broke" and ROMs will flood it, it's a flagship device with premium hardware and capabilities so devs will flock to it. We don't have an M8, either at home or work (odd, since we have over 60 cell phones at work), so I can't speak directly to it's battery life or capabilities but the people with M7s sure like them.
On a side note, it is interesting that Verizon is not preloading the G3 with Bloatware, it is downloaded and installed during the setup process (data free), and most can be uninstalled. Interesting change of "business as usual" for Verizon...
M8 is amazing! :good: I personally love it. Has a great battery life for me. I've pulled a good 6 hours SoT before, with an average of 5-5:30 hours of SoT. May not match the G2 or G3 but for a person who loves sense 5/6 (6 is stock) it's amazing!! :good:
Sent from my HTC One M8 Running Liquid Smooth. S-OFF
pball52998 said:
M8 is amazing! :good: I personally love it. Has a great battery life for me. I've pulled a good 6 hours SoT before, with an average of 5-5:30 hours of SoT. May not match the G2 or G3 but for a person who loves sense 5/6 (6 is stock) it's amazing!! :good:
Sent from my HTC One M8 Running Liquid Smooth. S-OFF
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually its not too far off. Max Ive pulled was a smidgen less than 7hrs. My take on the M8 G2 or G3 debackle;
M8 if you like Sense and if custom romming dont mind a small bug or six.
G2 if you're into custom roms and don't mind a bug here and there before getting corrected(stock rom is still great).
G3 if you're more into a probability of not getting custom roms(stock would be ok with you) but getting better hardware to surpass both.
Snuzzo said:
Actually its not too far off. Max Ive pulled was a smidgen less than 7hrs. My take on the M8 G2 or G3 debackle;
M8 if you like Sense and if custom romming dont mind a small bug or six.
G2 if you're into custom roms and don't mind a bug here and there before getting corrected(stock rom is still great).
G3 if you're more into a probability of not getting custom roms(stock would be ok with you) but getting better hardware to surpass both.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Surprisingly M8 ROMs are getting bugs ironed out. Thank god I wasn't around during the encryption bug lol. The biggest bug right now is speakerphone not working right. As for the G3 it has the 801 and 3GB of RAM right? To me that's almost overkill... Isn't a 801 and 2GB enough but the camera. G3 has an awesome camera though. If I didn't like sense (I personally love it) I would have definitely gotten the G3. Hands down.
Sent from my HTC One M8 running Insert Coin. S-OFF.
5.5" IPS display also.
Sent from my LG-VS980 using Tapatalk 4
I'm in that boat - switching today. Was curious if others were and their experience as they try the new G3.
Im switching from an S5, had the S4 too.. will let you know
J3ff said:
Im switching from an S5, had the S4 too.. will let you know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting - I'm switching in hopes of getting better call reception than I got on my S4. May I ask what feature(s) made you give the G3 a try?
Switching from my S3 in about 2 weeks... IDK if my mind can handle such a big upgrade.
boe said:
Interesting - I'm switching in hopes of getting better call reception than I got on my S4. May I ask what feature(s) made you give the G3 a try?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wanted that size screen/phone, the high resolution 2k screen made it a "must have"
I compared again to my S4 today, but do not see the step up that makes it worth it. S4 display looks better to me. That said, if I were coming from and S3, the G3 is a much better device. Not enough to jump for me from the S4. The Qhd seems to drag it down some due to throttling and the display has to be set to a very high value to not look dim, but it is still faster than the S4.
JMO and still a NICE device I will wait to see if the Plus version with the 805 is released, or maybe the Note 4.
Just got mine today! Came from the S4 (which I got launch day last year).
So far really liking it. :good:
tjk639 said:
Just got mine today! Came from the S4 (which I got launch day last year).
So far really liking it. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you tell me about the SIM card? MIne said they were shipping one but I don't see it (although it might be in there) and I have an S4 - tried taking the card out of it and sliding on top of the white spot above the battery but it doesn't seem to fit.
boe said:
Can you tell me about the SIM card? MIne said they were shipping one but I don't see it (although it might be in there) and I have an S4 - tried taking the card out of it and sliding on top of the white spot above the battery but it doesn't seem to fit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SIM card was preinstalled in the phone.
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Free mobile app
Thanks - mine came preinstalled too. I couldn't get it to come out so I wasn't sure if I should try to remove it. used a jeweler screwdriver and saw the white sim was indeed a new sim.
boe said:
Can you tell me about the SIM card? MIne said they were shipping one but I don't see it (although it might be in there) and I have an S4 - tried taking the card out of it and sliding on top of the white spot above the battery but it doesn't seem to fit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that white spot may be your SIM card. There are 2 slots in that location. The bottom slot is the SIM card (mine came with it installed) and on to of it is the SD memory card slot.
I was going to. But lack of unlocked boot loader AND incompatible apps have me thinking I should keep the s4. Not what I expected.
Sent from a Shaftamle Galaxy S4
"Thanks Button" is always appreciated!
CheckOutMyThemedGoogleKeyboards!!!!!!
TouchWiz was designed by a child.
MyColorScreen
Shaftamle said:
I was going to. But lack of unlocked boot loader AND incompatible apps have me thinking I should keep the s4. Not what I expected.
Sent from a Shaftamle Galaxy S4
"Thanks Button" is always appreciated!
CheckOutMyThemedGoogleKeyboards!!!!!!
TouchWiz was designed by a child.
MyColorScreen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahhh come on Shaf you'll love this phone. . I'm hoping in the next week or so someone will pull through with a custom recovery.
Won't mention any names but it's being worked on right now.
Hey in the mean time at least it's not stock Touchwiz lol
Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk
I came from a Galaxy S4 running the latest version of Hyperdrive. For anyone having doubts, you can drop them.
True, the G3's display doesn't scream color at you like the often times cartoonish display of the Galaxy line, but personally I don't see that as a problem. That may be because I've also preferred a screen that gives a more natural and accurate reproduction of colors, which between the two, I feel is the G3. That's just my own opinion though, most people's is probably different.
Unlike some people who have picked up the G3, I have zero lag. No random reboots. Nothing. It runs flawlessly. And that's on a device that is rooted, debloated and running ART.
Call reception has been better than the S4 so far. However, signal strength I am a little baffled by. In some areas, I'm getting signal where I didn't get it with the S4. In other areas, I am getting weaker signal. Personally, I am starting to lean towards the idea that the G3 gives a more accurate signal readout than the S4 ever did, but I still have some testing on that to do.
Battery life tends to be hit or miss for people. If you tend to use your devices like I do: Call/Text/Spotify and light Internet/Camera/Bluetooth usage throughout the day away from the house, mixed in with the occasional game/emulator while at home...you'll be happy. However, if you're one of those users who expect to watch a movie or an episode or two, play a handful of games and shoot from an on screen time of 5+ hours all during the work day...you'll be sorely disappointed. Because this phone has an amazing standby time: mine went down by 3% last night over the span of eight hours. However, the display devours battery power at a sometimes alarming rate. But, I've only had the phone for a couple of days, so I'm not worried about it yet. Also, battery life in the S4 was significantly improved for me while running Hyperdrive, so overall it's not a fair comparison. Also bear in mind that with the exception of Bluetooth, I keep everything on at all times (gps, wifi, auto brightness set at full, etc).
As to anyone giving excuses for not getting this device in the vein of "It has a locked bootloader". So does the S4. In fact, I made the mistake of picking up a 32GB S4 a month after it was released on Verizon, and I was forever screwed out of having an unlocked or loki'd device because of the firmware version it was running out of the box. In fact, Samsung devices are notoriously worse about bootloaders than any other manufacturer on Verizon currently.
So, is it a worthy upgrade to the S4? Hell yes. And if none of what I said works for you, think about this: The Snapdragon 801 in this device charges the battery significantly faster than the 600 in the S4.
Thanks for the review. Now that I've had it a couple of days I thought I'd give my thoughts as well.
Battery life - at first I'd say it was comparable to my S4 but then I went to all applications and disabled a bunch that were on after I activated my phone - now the battery life is great - I've had it on but unused and uncharged since last night (1 push email account - no texting, no imdb, no calls) and it only went down 5% in 12 hours (BT enabled, WIFI disabled). The screen activity does seem to use more battery life than my S4 and so does GPS. Otherwise phone talk time seems to have about the same battery drain. I only use BT for making calls so BT is on 24x7. FYI I just got the Plantronics EDGE and it is amazing (I also have the Sennheiser presence which has better battery life but overall I like the Edge much more.
Charging - the phone is picky about chargers. I've used the same chargers I've had for years for my Nexus, S3, S4, Plantronics and Sennheiser headsets but the G3 said it wasn't acceptable and wouldn't use it to charge. On the plus side the included charger does seem to charge it quickly. Biggest disappointment - that it didn't come with a wireless charging backplate.
Signal strength - I'd say it has only slightly better voice signal reception than the S4 but every bit helps (e.g. calls from the cement garage beneath my apartment complex). Data seems a teeny bit slower though when running speedtest. I haven't done enough testing for this to be an accurate or detailed analysis.
Overlay - I have to say it seems zippy enough to me and as user friendly as the Samsung although different so it takes a teeny bit of getting used to - except the back arrow - that took a lot since it is on the opposite side from where my thumb automatically tried to go when I wanted to go back.
Screen - great size. I don't think the contrast is as sharp as the S4 - you can say it is color saturation or whatever you want - in the end it still means some things are as well separated. There is a color adjustment some say impacts contrast but what it does is adjust colors - not contrast IMHO.
Buttons - I thought I'd really freak out about not having the hard buttons where I had in the past but that was easier to get used to than the back button - I'm finally used to both though.
Bloat ware - both Samsung and LG have some apps I'd love to just uninstall but until you root them, you are stuck with the crap although most of it you can disable. Health was the very first thing I would uninstall if I could.
Issues - no issues so far other than the charging one. No reboots or hangs. My guess is that people are installing an app that doesn't play well with the G3 or perhaps the current version of Android. I admit I don't have more than 15 apps I install myself. The only ones I really care about are truecaller(mediocre call blocker/id app), Tesla (flashlight), call history, cal widget (calendar for home screen) and the rest are items I only use occasionally - e.g. ip calcs, where's my car, speedtest etc. I tried some live wallpapers and went back to static ones - attempting to keep every bit of battery life. I had a hard time pairing my BT headset with my new phone - perhaps there is something difference about the process on the G3 - I ended up using NFC and it worked instantly.
Conclusion - I like the phone a lot although I'm sure the S5 would have been an excellent choice as well. I like the screen size on this a bit more but I like the contrast on the Samsung screen. I notice the difference in large 4K TVs right away but for a screen of this size the S4 resolution was fine. You really have to look to notice the difference.
Mistertac said:
Ahhh come on Shaf you'll love this phone. . I'm hoping in the next week or so someone will pull through with a custom recovery.
Won't mention any names but it's being worked on right now.
Hey in the mean time at least it's not stock Touchwiz lol
Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hopefully they will get it unlocked. That would be sweet.
Sent from a Shaftamle Galaxy S4
"Thanks Button" is always appreciated!
CheckOutMyThemedGoogleKeyboards!!!!!!
TouchWiz was designed by a child.
MyColorScreen
Got mine a few hours ago.
Found a guy on Swappa. Keeping my unlimited.
Anyway.
ioroot was the first thing I did.
I used it a few weeks ago on my wife's LG G2.
Installing all my apps and then will use TI backup to get the last of my data.
Need to install the tethering hack.
Also install Xposed and Wanam.
Case and screen protector here on Wed.
Until then, I'll leave all the plastic on.
Cheers!!
Had an S4 for 2 months when it first came out
I don't know what you want to know exactly but I can tell you that even the G2 was a huge upgrade from the S4. I sold my S4 after having it for 2 months and if I could have sold it a week after I got it I would have. I waited for the G2 to come out and upgraded to it and I loved the G2 but hard bricked it a few months back and got stuck with an OG razr and today I got a G3. I don't get the hype with Samsung's S line of phones because I personally think every LG G series phone has been better. As long as LG and Samsung keep doing what they have been for the past 2 years I'm sticking with LG because their phones are a lot better now. The G2, and G3 even look a lot better than other phones because LG has wisely adopted the small bezel look which I personally think is very attractive compared to the large bezels Samsung is still using.
I was in the verizon store sunday for a couple hours looking at all the different phones (even though I already knew I was gonna get the G3) and the G3 screen blows the others away. People who think you won't see a difference between the 1080p and the 4k on the G3 are mistaken because I could see a good bit of difference.
I also like how LG is moving towards a more clean UI whereas Samsung is looking as cartoonish as ever. The S5 looked so bad to me with the over saturated colors and ugly UI.
Lastly I'll say that for me the kicker with the S4 was at that time it was completely locked down because I got an S4 that had the update which broke all the root methods. I had it for 2 months and there was over 6G's up for anyone who could figure it out and no one had yet when I sold it. I don't know if people are still having issues with unlocking Samsung phones but that experience with the S4 turned me off of Samsung probably forever because I love to root and flash things on my phone, I had to suffer for 2 months not be able to do anything with my phone. Lg phones always get rooted day one and after a few months the development picks up and we'll have all sorts of roms to flash and it will be easy and fun.
tech_head said:
Got mine a few hours ago.
Found a guy on Swappa. Keeping my unlimited.
Anyway.
ioroot was the first thing I did.
I used it a few weeks ago on my wife's LG G2.
Installing all my apps and then will use TI backup to get the last of my data.
Need to install the tethering hack.
Also install Xposed and Wanam.
Case and screen protector here on Wed.
Until then, I'll leave all the plastic on.
Cheers!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check this module out for the g3 if you haven't already
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2792242
- Sent From My G3
Mistertac said:
Check this module out for the g3 if you haven't already
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2792242
- Sent From My G3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Found it before I saw your post.
Pretty good. I've been running Wanam on my S4. Wanam made the S4 liveable.
My daughter will get the S4 now.
Forgive me, I'm sure these posts keep cropping up but I just had to share.
Got a Samsung Note 4, and yes, it does a lot, and does it quickly. But....
Believe it or not, my G2 keeps up with it on all fronts and on many of them, surges ahead.
1st, the screen that the G2 got is still nearly unbeatable. I know the Note four is higher res, but the G2 screen is bright and clear, the colors are snappy and the thing pops. It's far more 'exciting' to look at and you really can't tell the difference in res. Further, the glass on the G2 is the most glorious I've used, very smooth and very, very hard. 2 years on, it still feels like liquid with very few scratches on it, without ever having used a case. The Note four, 2 weeks old, micro-scratch hell.
2nd, the battery kills the Note, hands down. I'm rooted and haven't refreshed in many months so it's settled down, I use DS battery saver and SD maid, and consistently the phone that's still living at 11pm is the G2. All the rest have collapsed and are recuperating with their chargers.
And lastly, speed. The Note does a lot of things. It's a productivity demon, it can multi-task very many different functions without ever slowing down, it's consistent and whatever you throw at it -games open, internetting, office+cloud, video/music, Facebook, split window, multi-window, window-in-window, - all AT THE SAME TIME, it doesn't stumble. Doesn't even cough.
But.
The G2 is faster. Imagine that. At everything it does within its system, it's faster. Once on the net no phone can beat the Note's vicious engine but everything within the G2's system is quicker. Opening and switching Apps, gliding through screens etc is not only very fast but very smooth, and.... The experience is like no other because of that wonderfully curved, beautifully coated, extra tough glass.
A bonus: that beautifully constructed, stock G2 home launcher! Yeah, I know, I'm the first to change launchers, used them ALL trust me, all, the stock G2 launcher is the slickest.
I was going to sell my G2 but I'm going to keep it. For life. Once in a while a company gets it right, and the G2 got it right. The few things it didn't, it tried to correct for in the G3 - the measly 16gb which just doesn't cut it these days, no access to the battery or to expandable memory -these things hurt it but the G3 is a completely different machine. And it's not as good.
The LgG2 chassis has become quite simply, one of the best I've ever owned. Things came together for LG here like a good number one hit - very hard to replicate. I hope they manage to pull something off with the G4 that erases their rush with the G3 - not that it's a bad Phone.
Sorry for my rant but there it is. After a month with both phones side-by-side, I had to let you all know. The G2 rocks properly. Like nothing else out there. Still.
Sent from my SM-N910H using XDA Premium HD app
Agreed... I have had mine for over a year Now...I used to be a phone addict always wanting something faster...well the lg g2 is the only phone that has felt "fast" enough...the battery is amazing and the screen is amazing as well..I kivr the bezel and lg's software...hands down the best phone I have ever owned still 1 year down the road.
G2 r0cKz
I have g2. Not selling yet. But I like g3 and note 4 is really good. I think I can keep g2 for this year.
Ive note 3 and g2...love them both so much...g2 got better screen and the battery life is amazingggg...like u said this phone is rock still
Sent from my LG-D802 using XDA Free mobile app
Still rocking my g2 but a lot of your post is just patently false from using my gf's Note 4. The res is distinguishable, text looks a lot crisper on the note and that's something I noticed from first glance. Same for performance, I'm satisfied with my G2's performance but the G3 and Note 4 are just snappier. Only thing I can't speak definitively on is battery life as I haven't used the Note 4 for extended periods of time but I don't see how a used G2 battery is beating a brand new phone's battery, even if the resolution is higher the note is also amoled which will save power in certain circumstances. That sounds more like app/wakelock differences or one phone being rooted with the correct kernels/changes while the other is not.
We can love our G2 because it's still a great phone without hyping it against newer models. I'll probably have my g2 until the G4 or some other phone comes out later this year but I won't delude myself into thinking it's an objectively better phone than things with objectively better screens/processors/battery.
I got my G2 bundled with a postpaid plan on a 2-year contract. At the time, I was expecting that, after a year, I'd be looking for a replacement phone just to keep up with the times. But it's already been 16 months, and I still can't find any reason to drop this phone and get a new one. Heck, I even like this better than the G3, TBH. I even think that I'll be keeping this one active even after I renew my contract and get a new phone, maybe the next Note.
Agree G2 is perfect sized phone. Especially with the Verzion version having wireless charging. Do wish it had microSD slot. Thankfully Google+ backup fixes that.
Obsessive
Speed, Display, Power, Features and whatnot? You name it and we have it. Salute to the LG for pulling up a truly smartphone. Truly Amazing.
MicroMod777 said:
Agree G2 is perfect sized phone. Especially with the Verzion version having wireless charging. Do wish it had microSD slot. Thankfully Google+ backup fixes that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Manbot27 said:
Still rocking my g2 but a lot of your post is just patently false from using my gf's Note 4. The res is distinguishable...I'm satisfied with my G2's performance but the G3 and Note 4 are just snappier...I don't see how a used G2 battery is beating a brand new phone's battery, even if the resolution is higher...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think you have lived with both phones. The LgG2 screen is immediately richer and more iridescent than the Note 4. It is only on prolonged use that res begins to show, and only because the Note uses and handles small text better and has deeper Black's on images. You DO realise after a while that indeed, the qHD on the Samsung is the best on the market - you get it when you try to go back to full HD, don't let anyone kid you - and it becomes clear that LG accentuates the brilliance of its screens - but that's not the point. In use, the LgG2 remains an exciting display, and the glass on it is unsurpassed even by the Note 4.
The battery in the LgG2 only seems to get better, the longer the phone sits on its hardware undisturbed, and is factually, longer-lasting than the Note 4. In fact, battery life is the main issue facing the Note. You will need your spare before the day is over and I suspect all firmware updates will be focused on this for a while.
The Note is a beast, no doubt. The point here is not comparison. It is that the LgG2 in particular, 2 years into the fray, is no slacker.
The G3? The jury is back on that one - they'll have to fix it with the G4 - the reviewers are well aware of that, it's all over the place. Where the G2 was splendid, the G3 was just the 1st with qHD.
It will need more than that this year.
Just saying.
Sent from my SM-N910H using XDA Premium HD app
I love my G2(d802). Powerful phone, great battery, beautiful experience. I wait official lollipop with new UI. I will skip G3, i dont like ever this phone. Maybe G4 will be my next baby, until G4 im happy with my baby G2.
Yes - I tried friends G3 and hardware looks great but animations are very choppy, not fluid
cile1977 said:
Yes - I tried friends G3 and hardware looks great but animations are very choppy, not fluid
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...and G2 display is more brightness than G3 display. On G3 display white background looks like is yellow
Look here the diference, watch white background on both devices
http://youtu.be/nipun6-Grpk
I agree! I sold mine last year and have had numerous phones since then. Some of them multiple times! The G2 remains my favorite. I currently have the 6 Plus, and decided the other day to sell it and grab me a 128gb iPad Air 2 and pick up an older phone. I'll end up about even on the deal. Well, I have a mint Nexus 5, a mint LG G2, and a new LG G2 in the mail heading my way. Found a great deal on the new one after buying the mint condition and couldn't pass it up. I'm not sure whether I'll keep the Nexus or the G2, but I'm excited to give the G2 another run!
Sent from my iPhone 6 Plus using Tapatalk
I still enjoy my G2, still performs just as sharp as the day I got it about 13 months ago. Because it's a D800, I expect AT&T to have us wait for the Lollipop update. Rooting is out of the question for me, as I have experienced overheating both times I tried it.
Hey everyone. Some of you may have seen me before on various LG forums, like the Optimus G, and the G2 (I've definitely seen some of you guys before on the OG forums), and I have a question for you guys who own the Sprint G3. Are you guys happy with your device? Like ROM wise, battery life, the entire experience in general. As of today March 1st, I'm eligible for an upgrade, and I was thinking of getting the G3. But I've been ghosting around the forums to spot any rooting quirks and goofs, and I've seen some regarding data on custom ROMs and stuff, which I'm kinda on the fence about. I'm planning on keeping my N5 for the AOSP ROMs, but this phone has terrible battery life, compared to the G2 I've owned for two weeks before I permanently switched to the N5. I see there's a decent selection of AOSP ROMs available for the G3, but I'm not too worried about that because I have my Nexus.
Tl;Dr: are you guys happy with your G3, and do you think its worth the upgrade, or should I wait for new devices to come out?
Get on GSM if you can. This CDMA crap has an always be problematic. GSM phones get way more love than the stupid sprint cdma garbage. We have great stuff going on here. Yet still better support for GSM. Battery life is great and the phone rocks.
---------- Post added at 02:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:28 AM ----------
As for me I am seriously contemplating getting a Nexus 6 just so I can get stock android without CDMA problems. All I want is stock. If I had the knowledge to make this phone what I want I would. I do not so I am at the will of others. No complaints though. So much great stuff has happened for this LS990.
As a previous owner of several G2's (Sprint variants) I'm happy that I now have a G3 finally (and yes it's the Sprint model). Having said that, I'm currently "stuck" at the moment because of a damaged digitizer but I'll be ordering a new display assembly here in short order hopefully.
Comparing the G3 vs the N5 directly it's pretty blatantly obvious that the G3 is vastly superior in most every respect that matters - I'm wondering if you meant to say the N6 instead because that would be more aligned in a comparison in terms of hardware:
- same resolution screens albeit LCD vs AMOLED, 5.5" vs 5.96" - the G3 "looks" sharper because of the much higher PPI at 538 vs 493 for the N6 - I have two friends that own an N6 at this time and the one thing I hear from them most often is they love the color saturation of the AMOLED panel but they wish it was LCD because in direct sunlight the AMOLED just washes out pretty severely, and I am the same way: I love AMOLED color representation but outside in daylight, forget it, the G3 wins without question (my opinion based on my own usage and experience, however)
- the N6 is technically more powerful with the Snapdragon 805 at 2.7 GHz vs the G3 with the 801 at 2.5 GHz but the difference is negligible in actual day to day performance
- 3GB of RAM in each device (given you have the 32GB model from Sprint) so that's a draw
- form factor isn't that different save for getting used to the G3 having the rear mounted controls, it takes a little getting used to but in the long run I've come to find it works fine for me after that "honeymoon" period
- pure stock Android on the N6 vs the very nicely themed G3 experience, this one is simply a personal preference and nothing more: I prefer the G3's UI actually; when I had my G2(s) over the past year I ran CloudyG3 on them (now properly renamed to CloudyG2, however) and loved it. I can see why people prefer the stock Android even in spite of them using some third party launcher like Nova or something else even so
- microSD slot for increased storage + the removable battery pushes the G3 into the lead for me, however - I'm not saying it's better automagically just because the hardware supports it, I'm saying that for me it's better because I prefer such aspects in my smartphones, those two things were lacking in the G2 and I'm happy that LG came around and added them because it makes the G3 nearly perfect to me (I wish it just had a 1920x1080 display, however)
- battery life is an important aspect as well and I'm confident that the G3 with Lollipop (since it's now available, even for the Sprint variant) should get improved battery life (there's that memory glitch with 5.0.1 but I'm sure it'll be addressed soon enough). Can't speak for the N5 or the N6 with respect to battery life but I'm pretty sure the G3 may give better results. GSMArena gave the N6 a 70 hour endurance rating and the G3 a 63 in the same test, so they're very similar overall depending on usage
Also realize that because of how the G3 is designed with the back-mounted buttons, the 5.5" display on it and the entire casing of the G3 takes up less space than the N6 does - the N6 is a very large device overall, a monster sized phone these days so that may play into your decision as well. There's a size comparison at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBrbCB50wJ0 - pretty dramatic difference.
But these kinds of comparisons are a dime a dozen these days, you've probably done the research already anyway, iamterence, so none of this is really new. What you have to decide is only something you can decide, as the case may be:
Which device suits your needs and requirements best...
What I suggest to people is sit down for a few minutes and do a pros/cons list of the things you need and require a smartphone in today's world to do for you given your usage expectations, then find a device that most closely matches the pros while having the least cons. It takes a while to do it obviously but when you're done you should have a lock on which device will be your choice.
If it's the G3 vs the N5, I'll take the G3 anytime. If it's the G3 vs the N6, I'd still take the G3 because I just prefer what it offers - pure stock Android on a Nexus is a nice thing, but it's lacking to me in many respects.
Also, I do agree with what was said above about the CDMA vs GSM thing overall but the G2 and the G3 really don't have much issues with getting GSM functionality. I personally can't stand LTE for various reasons but that's another thread altogether, so for me using HSPA+ on these devices is better in my situation and gives me 35Mbps or better where I live in Las Vegas which is pretty much saturated by T-Mobile service (my carrier of choice). If your intention - as a Sprint customer - is to use the device with that carrier then that whole CDMA vs GSM thing is a moot point anyway. If, however, you hope to use the device with another provider based on AT&T or T-Mobile's networks aka GSM then understand that unlocking the domestic GSM usage for the G3 isn't that tough at all, really.
Again, do the list, find what you need and require then match it.
I'd say grab the G3 and run with it but, you're the one that has to make the final decision.
ps
KnockOn/KnockOff/KnockCode... once you start using it you will seriously wonder why every smartphone hasn't been doing this since day one.
br0adband said:
As a previous owner of several G2's (Sprint variants) I'm happy that I now have a G3 finally (and yes it's the Sprint model). Having said that, I'm currently "stuck" at the moment because of a damaged digitizer but I'll be ordering a new display assembly here in short order hopefully.
Comparing the G3 vs the N5 directly it's pretty blatantly obvious that the G3 is vastly superior in most every respect that matters - I'm wondering if you meant to say the N6 instead because that would be more aligned in a comparison in terms of hardware:
- same resolution screens albeit LCD vs AMOLED, 5.5" vs 5.96" - the G3 "looks" sharper because of the much higher PPI at 538 vs 493 for the N6 - I have two friends that own an N6 at this time and the one thing I hear from them most often is they love the color saturation of the AMOLED panel but they wish it was LCD because in direct sunlight the AMOLED just washes out pretty severely, and I am the same way: I love AMOLED color representation but outside in daylight, forget it, the G3 wins without question (my opinion based on my own usage and experience, however)
- the N6 is technically more powerful with the Snapdragon 805 at 2.7 GHz vs the G3 with the 801 at 2.5 GHz but the difference is negligible in actual day to day performance
- 3GB of RAM in each device (given you have the 32GB model from Sprint) so that's a draw
- form factor isn't that different save for getting used to the G3 having the rear mounted controls, it takes a little getting used to but in the long run I've come to find it works fine for me after that "honeymoon" period
- pure stock Android on the N6 vs the very nicely themed G3 experience, this one is simply a personal preference and nothing more: I prefer the G3's UI actually; when I had my G2(s) over the past year I ran CloudyG3 on them (now properly renamed to CloudyG2, however) and loved it. I can see why people prefer the stock Android even in spite of them using some third party launcher like Nova or something else even so
- microSD slot for increased storage + the removable battery pushes the G3 into the lead for me, however - I'm not saying it's better automagically just because the hardware supports it, I'm saying that for me it's better because I prefer such aspects in my smartphones, those two things were lacking in the G2 and I'm happy that LG came around and added them because it makes the G3 nearly perfect to me (I wish it just had a 1920x1080 display, however)
- battery life is an important aspect as well and I'm confident that the G3 with Lollipop (since it's now available, even for the Sprint variant) should get improved battery life (there's that memory glitch with 5.0.1 but I'm sure it'll be addressed soon enough). Can't speak for the N5 or the N6 with respect to battery life but I'm pretty sure the G3 may give better results. GSMArena gave the N6 a 70 hour endurance rating and the G3 a 63 in the same test, so they're very similar overall depending on usage
Also realize that because of how the G3 is designed with the back-mounted buttons, the 5.5" display on it and the entire casing of the G3 takes up less space than the N6 does - the N6 is a very large device overall, a monster sized phone these days so that may play into your decision as well. There's a size comparison at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBrbCB50wJ0 - pretty dramatic difference.
But these kinds of comparisons are a dime a dozen these days, you've probably done the research already anyway, iamterence, so none of this is really new. What you have to decide is only something you can decide, as the case may be:
Which device suits your needs and requirements best...
What I suggest to people is sit down for a few minutes and do a pros/cons list of the things you need and require a smartphone in today's world to do for you given your usage expectations, then find a device that most closely matches the pros while having the least cons. It takes a while to do it obviously but when you're done you should have a lock on which device will be your choice.
If it's the G3 vs the N5, I'll take the G3 anytime. If it's the G3 vs the N6, I'd still take the G3 because I just prefer what it offers - pure stock Android on a Nexus is a nice thing, but it's lacking to me in many respects.
Also, I do agree with what was said above about the CDMA vs GSM thing overall but the G2 and the G3 really don't have much issues with getting GSM functionality. I personally can't stand LTE for various reasons but that's another thread altogether, so for me using HSPA+ on these devices is better in my situation and gives me 35Mbps or better where I live in Las Vegas which is pretty much saturated by T-Mobile service (my carrier of choice). If your intention - as a Sprint customer - is to use the device with that carrier then that whole CDMA vs GSM thing is a moot point anyway. If, however, you hope to use the device with another provider based on AT&T or T-Mobile's networks aka GSM then understand that unlocking the domestic GSM usage for the G3 isn't that tough at all, really.
Again, do the list, find what you need and require then match it.
I'd say grab the G3 and run with it but, you're the one that has to make the final decision.
ps
KnockOn/KnockOff/KnockCode... once you start using it you will seriously wonder why every smartphone hasn't been doing this since day one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You say that you're stick with Sprint because you have a damaged digitizer for your G3; is that because you flashed a ROM, or what? Because I remember back on the G2 forums, there was a VERY widespread screen damage problem that happened to a lot of people who flashed ROMs, and even to people who didn't. If that's a problem here as well, then I am instantly turned off, because that problem is just beyond stupid.
I know that GSM devices get mostly all the love as well, being stuck on CDMA myself for the past 3 years and counting. But the way I view it as: since I already have a Nexus device, with the G3, I'm actually gonna take the chance to appreciate stock debloated software, and maybe go AOSP if I'm feeling bored, but I plan on keeping my Nexus just in case I feel like going back to AOSP. But, to be completely honest though, AOSP gets a little boring after a while. See, I like minimal ROMs. I've flash a lot of ROMs on my device, but I always find myself coming back to near-vanilla ROMs, because I'm just not into all those features like that. Just give me a theme engine/RRO support, and maybe even a center clock mod, and I'm good to go.
Speaking of RRO, are there any ROMs here that support that yet? I really haven't looker, but Layers themes are AMAZING. I feel like they run more efficiently than the theme engine, but that can be a strictly placebo affect. If not, I know there's definitely theme engine, so I'm good either ways.
I'm actually kinda leaning towards the G3 myself now, and have been for a little while now. I guess I just needed something to solidify my decision. Really not into HTC phones, nor am I a big fan of Touchwiz, even with their clean slate revisiting. LG phones have never done me any wrong (Well, except for the G2 with it's screen problems), and we didn't get a 2nd gen Moto X, otherwise I'd hop on that in a heartbeat. The Nexus 6 is WAY too goddamn big for me, like way past my comfort zone. I travel across the country in a touring metal band, so something stupid would be bound to happen if I were to get that phone. I'd feel a lot more safer with that phone than with the goddamn whale that is the N6. But, like I said, I'd be getting the G3 to actually appreciate the stock LG software rather than trying to go nuts with AOSP.
If anything, if I don't like the G3, I'll just sell it for $250 or something.
No, I bought it with a cracked digitizer for $50 - the G3 itself is without any noticeable flaws and works great but the digitizer being cracked and non-functional leaves me with a device I can't use till I replace that (meaning the entire display assembly since the LCD and digitizer are fused; technically it's possible to separate them but I lack the expertise and the necessary hardware plus it's just not worth the hassles). The G2 issues in the past were an actual manufacturing defect on some particular devices, iirc, I could be wrong about that but it had something to do with specific LCD panels made by a specific manufacturer - it wasn't directly LG's fault, I mean, at least that's what I remember. There was an app you could run that would ID the exact panel in your G2 and then you'd know whether or not you might potentially have problems.
I've never ever heard of screen damage caused by ROM flashing - that just sounds a bit ridiculous, so perhaps there's just a misunderstanding of what those people were reporting. The one "issue" that the G3 suffered/suffers from is the fact that the super huge QHD resolution and scaling causing sharpness issues in some situations: either the onscreen image is too sharp or oversharp and loses clarity or it's not sharp enough and looks fuzzy. It's not a technical problem or a defect with the display, it's simple physics of the LCD being so high resolution at 2560x1440 and software/hardware scaling not being up to par - there are several fixes out that help alleviate the oversharpening but I can't speak for their effectiveness at this time till I can get this G3 of mine up and running again with the replacement display assembly.
Not sure what you're referring to with the "RRO" comment, and I'm not into themes at all personally. I typically use a black wallpaper on any device I own and keep everything 'stock' in terms of the UI itself which is why I said what I said about LG's stock UI on the G3 (and why I used it on the G2 with CloudyG3/G2). It's beautiful, incredibly functional, and fits the way I use the device better than "stock" Android ever could but again that's just me and my personal preference. I give LG big props and mad respect for it because it's gorgeous and gets the job done while being lean and mean while remaining snappy and responsive as well.
Aside from the Sprint bloatware (which can be disabled iirc, or removed entirely with root using Titanium Backup). I was using the G3 after I got it and my OTG cable with a mouse, actually. The damage to the digitizer was localized in most of the left and upper region - the bottom right quadrant was still functional but with the mouse plugged in the digitizer became irrelevant. No, I don't mean I was going to carry it around with a mouse, that would be ridiculous and stupid, I just mean that I got the G3 for that $50 knowing I'd be replacing the display assembly from the gitgo.
My mistake was that I decided to roll the firmware back to factory (ZV4) and in the process I didn't realize that LG has made some changes since the G2 release and they have this stupid "Mini OS" thing come up after a stock firmware flash - the only way to exit out of that Mini OS and into the normal firmware is to hold the Power button and tap a menu item onscreen which causes a popup to appear with an OK button - because the digitizer is/was damaged I wasn't able to press the OK button (it was like 1/16" of an inch inside the damaged area) so I was left with a truly dead G3 for all intents and purposes.
I tore it down yesterday and removed the display assembly and cleaned it all up so it's basically a fully functional G3 now waiting for a new display/digitizer which I hope to order here as soon as I can round up the funds, it'll be about $70-80 off eBay.
It's a damned nice smartphone, it really is. My own pros/cons list basically is like 99% pros for the G3 and just 1% con: I wish it had a 1920x1080 display on it because I have no use - I mean really, does anyone? - for such a high resolution on such a tiny display. I appreciate it, I do, but there's no legitimate purpose for such a resolution on such a small display: 1920x1080 would have been awesome enough, I would have been happy with it and had no issues but LG wanted to be the first to market with the QHD resolution and they made it happen with the G3.
Couldn't pass it up for $50...
iamterence said:
Hey everyone. Some of you may have seen me before on various LG forums, like the Optimus G, and the G2 (I've definitely seen some of you guys before on the OG forums), and I have a question for you guys who own the Sprint G3. Are you guys happy with your device? Like ROM wise, battery life, the entire experience in general. As of today March 1st, I'm eligible for an upgrade, and I was thinking of getting the G3. But I've been ghosting around the forums to spot any rooting quirks and goofs, and I've seen some regarding data on custom ROMs and stuff, which I'm kinda on the fence about. I'm planning on keeping my N5 for the AOSP ROMs, but this phone has terrible battery life, compared to the G2 I've owned for two weeks before I permanently switched to the N5. I see there's a decent selection of AOSP ROMs available for the G3, but I'm not too worried about that because I have my Nexus.
Tl;Dr: are you guys happy with your G3, and do you think its worth the upgrade, or should I wait for new devices to come out?
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I loved my OG and decided to go with this phone based off of my experience with that. I can honestly say I made the right choice. My normal routine with phones is to flash AOSP roms as soon as they are available, but with this phone, I've been pretty impressed with the custom stock roms and xposed. My battery life is great when I'm not using bluetooth, but one great thing is the charge time on this phone has greatly improved over the OG.
BonezMontana said:
I loved my OG and decided to go with this phone based off of my experience with that. I can honestly say I made the right choice. My normal routine with phones is to flash AOSP roms as soon as they are available, but with this phone, I've been pretty impressed with the custom stock roms and xposed. My battery life is great when I'm not using bluetooth, but one great thing is the charge time on this phone has greatly improved over the OG.
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Yeah, I'm definitely interested to see how stock debloated Lollipop runs on this phone. Its just weird hearing that the battery life is just "okay" considering that the G2 had amazing battery life. But I guess the G3 would be an improvement over the N5 anyways, this thing has horrid battery life. Think I'm gonna go to Best Buy tomorrow and snag a G3 for a dollar, instead of getting one from Sprint for $50.