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Should I upgrade to LG Spirit or wait for new Metro phones?

B

Bishop99

Well-Known Member
Hi. I bought my first smartphone early last year. It was the LG Optimus M+. I really liked the phone at first, but to my surprise, MetroPCS released a new line of smartphones a short time later with 4g service and the newer android version. At first it didn't bother me, but now I would like to upgrade my phone, although my Optimus m+ still works great.

I've been looking at the LG Spirit, and with it's 4g capabilities, newer android version and larger screen, it seems like a very good upgrade. The thing is that I don't want to buy it now, only to see MetroPCS release a newer phone with better specs in a few short months.

My question to the people who follow MetroPCS and their phone releases is, will MetroPCS roll out better brand new phones in the following months, or is the LG Spirit the better phone they will offer until 2014?

Thanks
 
I heard there might be a multitude of new phones considering T-Mobile and MetroPCS merged.
But the LG Spirit as well as the motion (what I have) are really good. If you want to go the Windows Phone way, I know on T-Mobile they're selling the Lumia 521 (prepaid) for $150. You could even use a Simple Mobile SIM and it would be $50 unlimited.
 
Thanks. That's true about the merger, and if they are likely going to bring a lot of new phones, then I'll probably wait. I was considering the motion as well when it first came out, but it seems that I need a larger screen because I have a lot of typo's when I'm sending a text. A larger screen would probably help me out more. I was interested in the Spirit as well, but the lower screen resolution held me back a bit, along with the possibility that newer phones may come out.

I'm not completely familiar with the windows phone and since I'm already with Metro, I'm not looking into switching to T-Mobile. But thanks. Seeing that it is possible that newer phones may be coming to MetroPCS, I think I'll wait out a bit.
 
Bishop99 said:
I've been looking at the LG Spirit, and with it's 4g capabilities, newer android version and larger screen, it seems like a very good upgrade. The thing is that I don't want to buy it now, only to see MetroPCS release a newer phone with better specs in a few short months.

My question to the people who follow MetroPCS and their phone releases is, will MetroPCS roll out better brand new phones in the following months, or is the LG Spirit the better phone they will offer until 2014?

Thanks
Click to expand...

How much Mo Bigga or Mo Betta do you Need?

More glass is to me, too much. More processor means less badry time. Period. (And EVERYONE seems to be forgetting That little fact.)

The Spirit is a phone even Goldilocks would like. :)

But if I were you and were the slightest bit concerned about the merger, I'd hedge my bets with this idea. Become a ninja warrior over on The Bay in the Spirit department. I've seen nice phones go there recently for $150-160. That's even cheaper than a new Motion from the Mothership. There's Plenty more in the $200 range. There haven't been any systemic issues with this phone and the ones for sale now are still pretty new, I wouldn't suspect any issues with a clean looking phone.

I don't see Metro or even TMo coming out This Year with a better phone for $200.

Bruce in Ocala, FL
 
OcalaFlGuy said:
How much Mo Bigga or Mo Betta do you Need?

More glass is to me, too much. More processor means less badry time. Period. (And EVERYONE seems to be forgetting That little fact.)

The Spirit is a phone even Goldilocks would like. :)

But if I were you and were the slightest bit concerned about the merger, I'd hedge my bets with this idea. Become a ninja warrior over on The Bay in the Spirit department. I've seen nice phones go there recently for $150-160. That's even cheaper than a new Motion from the Mothership. There's Plenty more in the $200 range. There haven't been any systemic issues with this phone and the ones for sale now are still pretty new, I wouldn't suspect any issues with a clean looking phone.

I don't see Metro or even TMo coming out This Year with a better phone for $200.

Bruce in Ocala, FL
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Well, I do need the larger screen because I need a larger keyboard so I won't be having so many typo's. My current LG Optimus M+ is a 3.5 inch screen. The 4.5 inch screen of the Spirit seems like a great size and improvement and I'm sure it would help me. As far as Processor, I don't have an issue with the 800 MHz processor, so the 1.2 GHz dual-core processor of the Spirit would be more than what I would need.

My current phone has a screen resolution of 320x480 and at times, somethings look a little blurry at times. The Spirit has a resolution of 960x540. I would guess it would look a little better, but I'm left wondering if it's likely that a higher resolution phone might be coming out and with the latest version of android.


That would be my main concern. But from the looks of it, even if I would get the spirit and a few months down the road Metro releases a lot of new phones, the difference between the Spirit and the newer phones will not be as great as the different was between my LG Optimus M+/Gingerbread/3G and the LG Motion 4G?
 
teh spirit would be a worthwhile upgrade but we are coming up on teh time when they announce and release all sorts of new goodies. perhaps get a phone with 4.1/4.2? quad core? if i were you id hold out to mid june, by then you should know if anything great is coming and if not im sure metro will have a 4th of july sale
 
Shabbypenguin said:
teh spirit would be a worthwhile upgrade but we are coming up on teh time when they announce and release all sorts of new goodies. perhaps get a phone with 4.1/4.2? quad core? if i were you id hold out to mid june, by then you should know if anything great is coming and if not im sure metro will have a 4th of july sale
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Thanks for the advice. Yeah that is what I'll just end up doing. My current phone works just fine, so I'm in no rush to get a new one. This way I can see if something new will surface. Now I know to wait for it at around mid June.
 
One question I have for you, is the M+ a lte capable phone?

If you get a lte phone will it require a plan change, if it does you might be better off changing plan now, the tmo merger may increase the price of the lte plans.
At least that is the consensus of some of the news stories I have seen. This change should not affect current or grandfathered plans however for new service it would.
 
new optimus said:
One question I have for you, is the M+ a lte capable phone?

If you get a lte phone will it require a plan change, if it does you might be better off changing plan now, the tmo merger may increase the price of the lte plans.
At least that is the consensus of some of the news stories I have seen. This change should not affect current or grandfathered plans however for new service it would.
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Most likely won't, tmobile actually lowered their prices when introducing LTE they're not like every other carrier, LTE is cheaper to operate.
 
They even lowered their international plans it used to be $15 now it's $10 also the discount I get with my job is even higher now I do like how aggressive tmobile is
 
new optimus said:
One question I have for you, is the M+ a lte capable phone?

If you get a lte phone will it require a plan change, if it does you might be better off changing plan now, the tmo merger may increase the price of the lte plans.
At least that is the consensus of some of the news stories I have seen. This change should not affect current or grandfathered plans however for new service it would.
Click to expand...
No, my phone isn't an lte capable phone. But looking at the price plans that MetroPCS has now, once I do get a 4g plan, there won't be a real price difference for the plan I would choose.
 
I've said it before and I'll say it again more clearly.

I think many of the makers are screwing up and not paying as much attention to battery sizes and projected power usages as they should.

Yes I realize there is an efficiency factor but Generally, the more computing Power you have the more Battery it's going to require. And, I'm NOT seeing many makers doing what they did with say the Droid Max (whatever the hell it is/was) and giving it a Hugh Jass honkin' battery. Compootin' power is making big jumps while badrys make little ones.

I contend that with the Spirit, it's dual cores and their lower power consumption are sufficient. Until you start multi-tasking pretending you're on a Real Pooder, the dual core does all you need it to.

I haven't heard of any, nor do I suspect I will, of the much bigger screened quad+ core phones getting the same battery time you will with a Spirit. In fact, with the bigger phones, whining about running thru juice seems pretty prevalent. (IMO)

Bruce in Ocala, FL
 
OcalaFlGuy said:
I've said it before and I'll say it again more clearly.

I think many of the makers are screwing up and not paying as much attention to battery sizes and projected power usages as they should.

Yes I realize there is an efficiency factor but Generally, the more computing Power you have the more Battery it's going to require. And, I'm NOT seeing many makers doing what they did with say the Droid Max (whatever the hell it is/was) and giving it a Hugh Jass honkin' battery. Compootin' power is making big jumps while badrys make little ones.

I contend that with the Spirit, it's dual cores and their lower power consumption are sufficient. Until you start multi-tasking pretending you're on a Real Pooder, the dual core does all you need it to.

I haven't heard of any, nor do I suspect I will, of the much bigger screened quad+ core phones getting the same battery time you will with a Spirit. In fact, with the bigger phones, whining about running thru juice seems pretty prevalent. (IMO)

Bruce in Ocala, FL
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I have the nexus 4, 1.5 quad core with a 4.7 inch screen I get a realistic battery life of 1 day 6hours to 2 days on my average use. Screen on time of 4 hours max usually. Now that is what I call good. But it is all about how you set it up and how you use it. Larger screens better cpu while tech has improved efficiency they will still consume more juice then smaller screens and slower cpus.

So its up to each person to decide which they like more, can they keep a charger on hand for those times it will need it?
 
OcalaFlGuy said:
I've said it before and I'll say it again more clearly.

I think many of the makers are screwing up and not paying as much attention to battery sizes and projected power usages as they should.

Yes I realize there is an efficiency factor but Generally, the more computing Power you have the more Battery it's going to require. And, I'm NOT seeing many makers doing what they did with say the Droid Max (whatever the hell it is/was) and giving it a Hugh Jass honkin' battery. Compootin' power is making big jumps while badrys make little ones.

I contend that with the Spirit, it's dual cores and their lower power consumption are sufficient. Until you start multi-tasking pretending you're on a Real Pooder, the dual core does all you need it to.

I haven't heard of any, nor do I suspect I will, of the much bigger screened quad+ core phones getting the same battery time you will with a Spirit. In fact, with the bigger phones, whining about running thru juice seems pretty prevalent. (IMO)

Bruce in Ocala, FL
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except that most cores idle at lowest freq or stay off when they arent needed (at least since honeycomb when multithreading became better). so they waste no extra power except when using them (when you would need them). nvidia has argued that more cores equals better power due to getting stuff done faster, i consider that a load of crap but thats just my lowly opinion.

most bigger phones have a lot more real estate for, bigger batteries. the note 2 has a 3300mah battery (the same size as the razr maxx). while i has a bigger screen the actual battery hog is teh screen type. lcd CAN use more power but samoled is not extremely battery effiecient. its why devices like the xperia z and htc one can last for days while the sgs3 can last about 2 (3 with moderate/light)
 
if you like what you got and arent in a super hurry to upgrade i would wait. if nothing nice comes out in the following months the spirit will still be there and probably at a lower price.
 
Dont forget as well that metro likes to discontinue there phones rather quickly...so if there getting new phones im betting that'll they start cleaning out there oldies...
 
I was able to view my friends LG Spirit phone this weekend. While it was a good phone and I would definitely upgrade to it if nothing new will be coming up in the coming months, I personally felt that I would feel more comfortable with a 5 inch screen than the 4.5 inch screen of the spirit.

I'm not stuck at a $200 price point and I would be willing to spend $300 to $400 to do a final upgrade, I won't be replacing my next phone for a long time. I've seen that LG has been coming out with larger screen phones lately too. Is it likely that LG may release a 5 inch screen phone to metro soon or will they just continue giving Metropcs phones in the $200 price range? To me, it seems like the LG Esteem was a pretty high end phone for Metro at that time. Would be great if LG would release higher end phones to Metro.

Final question. If MetroPCS will be getting new phone in the coming months, the information of the phones are usually leaked about a month in advance right?
 
Joshuah22a said:
Dont forget as well that metro likes to discontinue there phones rather quickly...so if there getting new phones im betting that'll they start cleaning out there oldies...
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Yeah good joke..
the Huawei M835, has been on Metro's lineup for 2+ yrs now..
not to mention the Samsung Admire and the amazing LG Esteem going for 21 months as well..
 
Bishop99 said:
I was able to view my friends LG Spirit phone this weekend. While it was a good phone and I would definitely upgrade to it if nothing new will be coming up in the coming months, I personally felt that I would feel more comfortable with a 5 inch screen than the 4.5 inch screen of the spirit.

I'm not stuck at a $200 price point and I would be willing to spend $300 to $400 to do a final upgrade, I won't be replacing my next phone for a long time. I've seen that LG has been coming out with larger screen phones lately too. Is it likely that LG may release a 5 inch screen phone to metro soon or will they just continue giving Metropcs phones in the $200 price range? To me, it seems like the LG Esteem was a pretty high end phone for Metro at that time. Would be great if LG would release higher end phones to Metro.

Final question. If MetroPCS will be getting new phone in the coming months, the information of the phones are usually leaked about a month in advance right?
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if you dont mind dropping that kind of money and want a device that will last you a while then i cant stress the sgs3 enough. the chipset is almost a year old now, its the same one taht powers the spirit and more than likely anything else coming to metro for a good bit :/. the difference being is the sgs3 will have long term support. the nexus 1 still has 4.1 roms, with as much support teh sgs3 has it will likely be supported for years to come. they have 4.1.2 official, will get 4.2.2 and the next version of android in time. cm support will continue for far longer, in fact the only concern i would have is that cm wouldnt support teh VoLTE stuff needed for metro's switch to tmobile.

the lg spirit is a great phone and would last a few years without issues if you dont mind being stuck on older software.
 
I'm personally waiting to see what GSM phones we do get...HOPEFULLY we get the GS4 sometime soon if not maybe the Nexus 4, which I would GLADLY jump on
 
Shabbypenguin said:
if you dont mind dropping that kind of money and want a device that will last you a while then i cant stress the sgs3 enough. the chipset is almost a year old now, its the same one taht powers the spirit and more than likely anything else coming to metro for a good bit :/. the difference being is the sgs3 will have long term support. the nexus 1 still has 4.1 roms, with as much support teh sgs3 has it will likely be supported for years to come. they have 4.1.2 official, will get 4.2.2 and the next version of android in time. cm support will continue for far longer, in fact the only concern i would have is that cm wouldnt support teh VoLTE stuff needed for metro's switch to tmobile.

the lg spirit is a great phone and would last a few years without issues if you dont mind being stuck on older software.
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Thanks. I've highly considered that phone. But if I'm going to drop close to $500 for it, I personally want to wait for a bit and see if Metro will get the SG4 or another phone similar to it. I'll be honest, the SG3 will be a much more powerful phone than what I even need, and I likely won't use the SG4 to its full potential either. I just prefer to wait and see if Metro could bring in the SG4.

If not, and if no other real impressive phones comes to Metro similar in caliber to the SG3, then I will most probably get that phone. I do like the fact that Samsung continues to support and update that phone. I was a bit disappointed that no update was ever done to the LG Optimus M+ I bought. They dropped that phone quickly. :(
 
To the OP, I would suggest to wait in the few months. With T-Mobile and MetroPCS, the latter company will be phasing out CDMA technology including the 4G phones in 2-3 years from now if not sooner. It is said MetroPCS will be offering GSM phones compatible to T-Mobile technology, and it could happen these new phones could be used in these two companies.
 
AndroidGoogle said:
To the OP, I would suggest to wait in the few months. With T-Mobile and MetroPCS, the latter company will be phasing out CDMA technology including the 4G phones in 2-3 years from now if not sooner. It is said MetroPCS will be offering GSM phones compatible to T-Mobile technology, and it could happen these new phones could be used in these two companies.
Click to expand...

yah, but that could take another year.....don't see it occurring in less than
 
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