Thought I'd start a new thread for this to help those who really do like their iPhone but really want 4G data rates. I bought my iPhone this past Feb. The screen sold me. It was love at first sight. My area wasn't scheduled to receive 4G until mid-2012 but it went active this fall. I went to the verizon store and did my own 4G/3G speed test. I checked 5 different locations from distances of 20 to 650 miles from the store location. In every test the 4G was 11x faster than the 3G. Ok, maybe it's new is why it's so much faster but even 5x is worth the cost of the upgrade.
So next step was figuring out the upgrade cost. I'm not paying full price for a phone and since my upgrade was 9 months earlier I thought I wouldn't be able to make it work. Except I have a family share plan and my other lines (4) all renewed in December. the store said i could come back then to upgrade. However, I called verizon to work my negotiating magic, ready to explain how my $3k/year in bills was worth them making an exception for me. But to my surprise women said "if you would like to upgrade I can get that ordered for you now." No mention of having to wait 25 more days.
The absolute best part is that there are so many people out there who are apple fan boys and girls that the iPhone 4 16GB still brings $300-360 on ebay. so the upgrade cost me nothing. But do think about this if you are not as lucky as me, buy the phone at full price and sell your iPhone to recoup half the cost and you will be able to upgrade later when the contract renews and then sell your Rezound. Fun game isn't it?
Why I chose the rezound over the Nexus: After my #1 frustration with the iPhone 4, there was no way I was going to choose a phone that doesn't have a removable sdhc card again. If that isn't an issue then the Nexus is a viable option.
The LCD screen is amazing so I can't imagine the nexus could be much better if any at all. Bigger yes but the Rezound is at my limit of being able to use with one hand. If you like the iPhone screen then you will love the Rezound's screen.
The camera is actually better with 8M pixels and the video is 1080p not 720p. Importing music was much simpler too.
The iPhone was a great phone (jailbroken) but the technology is 1.5 years old. That's a long time for this industry. So if you're on the fence like I was and you have 4G available to you, you won't regret it.
Today, I bought the extended battery, case/holster, screen protectors and car mount. It didn't ring with the "buy 4 get 30% off" deal because the
extended battery was excluded. I politely complained and told them I didn't expect an additional discount on the battery but it should count towards the number of items. The manager approved it.
The store salesman first told me that they didn't have the buy three discount and that it was buy 5 get 30% then another person said no it's buy 3 get 25%, buy 4 get 30%. Go figure, their incompetent. I don't get people that don't own their job but any way...
The case/holster was the only case I could find that fit the extended battery. While not perfect, I recommend it if you like to use a belt clip. the case with extended battery fits my hand perfect. As an example, going from the iPhone 4 to using the iPod 4th gen, the iPod feels too thin with little to grip. I prefer a handheld device to be just bulky enough to it stay securely in my hand.
The car mount is simple and does a nice job. You will need your own power cord and the one that comes with the phone won't work. It has to be a true micro USB cable. I have plenty of USB car adapters so I bought a 3' $1.50 cable from Monoprice along with other goodies, 6' cabe and the MHL adapter. Monopice has lots of inexpensive extras. I heard about them here btw. With the car mount, you will still use the phone audio plug to connect to your car receiver. All together $83.96 +tax.
Just so I'm clear, this phone blows the iPhone 4 away. I was able to connect to my DLNA home network and stream music in less than a minute. I mean, what the hell were they thinking. no 4G. That has to be one of Apple's dumbest moves.
pics with and without extended battery.
So next step was figuring out the upgrade cost. I'm not paying full price for a phone and since my upgrade was 9 months earlier I thought I wouldn't be able to make it work. Except I have a family share plan and my other lines (4) all renewed in December. the store said i could come back then to upgrade. However, I called verizon to work my negotiating magic, ready to explain how my $3k/year in bills was worth them making an exception for me. But to my surprise women said "if you would like to upgrade I can get that ordered for you now." No mention of having to wait 25 more days.
The absolute best part is that there are so many people out there who are apple fan boys and girls that the iPhone 4 16GB still brings $300-360 on ebay. so the upgrade cost me nothing. But do think about this if you are not as lucky as me, buy the phone at full price and sell your iPhone to recoup half the cost and you will be able to upgrade later when the contract renews and then sell your Rezound. Fun game isn't it?
Why I chose the rezound over the Nexus: After my #1 frustration with the iPhone 4, there was no way I was going to choose a phone that doesn't have a removable sdhc card again. If that isn't an issue then the Nexus is a viable option.
The LCD screen is amazing so I can't imagine the nexus could be much better if any at all. Bigger yes but the Rezound is at my limit of being able to use with one hand. If you like the iPhone screen then you will love the Rezound's screen.
The camera is actually better with 8M pixels and the video is 1080p not 720p. Importing music was much simpler too.
The iPhone was a great phone (jailbroken) but the technology is 1.5 years old. That's a long time for this industry. So if you're on the fence like I was and you have 4G available to you, you won't regret it.
Today, I bought the extended battery, case/holster, screen protectors and car mount. It didn't ring with the "buy 4 get 30% off" deal because the
extended battery was excluded. I politely complained and told them I didn't expect an additional discount on the battery but it should count towards the number of items. The manager approved it.
The store salesman first told me that they didn't have the buy three discount and that it was buy 5 get 30% then another person said no it's buy 3 get 25%, buy 4 get 30%. Go figure, their incompetent. I don't get people that don't own their job but any way...
The case/holster was the only case I could find that fit the extended battery. While not perfect, I recommend it if you like to use a belt clip. the case with extended battery fits my hand perfect. As an example, going from the iPhone 4 to using the iPod 4th gen, the iPod feels too thin with little to grip. I prefer a handheld device to be just bulky enough to it stay securely in my hand.
The car mount is simple and does a nice job. You will need your own power cord and the one that comes with the phone won't work. It has to be a true micro USB cable. I have plenty of USB car adapters so I bought a 3' $1.50 cable from Monoprice along with other goodies, 6' cabe and the MHL adapter. Monopice has lots of inexpensive extras. I heard about them here btw. With the car mount, you will still use the phone audio plug to connect to your car receiver. All together $83.96 +tax.
Just so I'm clear, this phone blows the iPhone 4 away. I was able to connect to my DLNA home network and stream music in less than a minute. I mean, what the hell were they thinking. no 4G. That has to be one of Apple's dumbest moves.
pics with and without extended battery.
