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Looking for a new phone (verizon) any suggestions?

W

worf65

Lurker
I currently have an HTC incredible with CM7. This has been a great phone but I am going to upgrade as soon as I can decide on a phone so that I can keep my unlimited data for another 2 years without worrying about having to buy a full price phone. I just spoke with the verizon representative at my local store and if I upgrade before the change in data plans I will be able to get a 4G phone with unlimited data. I spend a lot of time commuting on public transit and always go over 2GB with 3G so unlimited is a must.

Does anyone have any suggestions? The verizon rep suggested the HTC rezound and the LG Lucid. They both look like good phones but neither has an official CM 7 or 9. Does anyone know if these phones are reliable? Also does anyone know if these phones can be easily rooted and if there is a plan to release CM 9 for them, or are there any other good roms? After reading some reviews I have been reminded of the large amounts of bloatware I haven't had to deal with in a long time. Feel free to suggest any other phones as well, the most important thing is that it should last as long as possible without problems or being to much out of date, I won't be able to take another subsidized phone without loosing the unlimited data. I also want it to be 4G capable and I also need to be able to tether occasionally (once every few months, definitely not worth verizon's subscription).
 
Metroid prime said:
I'd recommend the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, for I just read it has CM9 on for it.
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That was the one phone the verizon rep suggested I avoid when I asked if he saw many problems with some of theses phones. Do you know if it is a reliable phone? I want to avoid the kind of problems someone I know who has a droid X2 has (constant freezing and rebooting on multiple replacement phones, even though it is completely unmodified and only has 5 downloaded apps). I like cyanogenmod but would try other roms too.
 
From what I've heard is that the Galaxy Nexus is loved by tons of people and it looks and sounds like a really solid device. Any phone can have issues, but I wouldn't think the Nexus is a phone to avoid. It comes with ICS and is a google phone.
What problems did he say it had?
 
Metroid prime said:
From what I've heard is that the Galaxy Nexus is loved by tons of people and it looks and sounds like a really solid device. Any phone can have issues, but I wouldn't think the Nexus is a phone to avoid. It comes with ICS and is a google phone.
What problems did he say it had?
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He wasn't very specific. I just asked if he saw many problems with any of the phones and he said to avoid the nexus. I didn't ask for more details. The main reason I went in was to find out what I could do with my service, I didn't have a specific device in mind, I was planning on waiting a little longer before upgrading until they announced the new data plans.
 
Well, I've heard lot's of good things about the Nexus and the Droid Razr Maxx looks nice too. The HTC Rezound seems kinda nice and HTC does make good phones too. Don't know much about the Lucid though.
 
Heres my honest device...dont get a Galaxy Nexus. You have 4 top end phones to choose from (my top 4 at least)...Galaxy Nexus, Razr, Rezound, and iphone4s.

After owning 4 android phones in the past year and after getting sick of constant bugs and issues with each one, I'm going back to the iphone and couldnt be happier. But if you really want an android get any but the Nexus. The rezound, razr and nexus all have issues, but the nexus has the most and the worst issues. None of these phones will get updates quickly but at least you will be able to live with the issues of the rezound and razr. The rezound and razr are better build quality, have better cameras, and better battery life. The nexus is choppy laggy and will fill you with rage. The razr is getting ICS soon so I think thats the best bet on verizon.
 
SRH12 said:
Heres my honest device...dont get a Galaxy Nexus. You have 4 top end phones to choose from (my top 4 at least)...Galaxy Nexus, Razr, Rezound, and iphone4s.

After owning 4 android phones in the past year and after getting sick of constant bugs and issues with each one, I'm going back to the iphone and couldnt be happier. But if you really want an android get any but the Nexus. The rezound, razr and nexus all have issues, but the nexus has the most and the worst issues. None of these phones will get updates quickly but at least you will be able to live with the issues of the rezound and razr. The rezound and razr are better build quality, have better cameras, and better battery life. The nexus is choppy laggy and will fill you with rage. The razr is getting ICS soon so I think thats the best bet on verizon.
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I'm definitely going to stick with an android phone, I've never had any issues (aside from the need for some tweaks to fit so many apps) with my droid incredible even after rooting it and loading it with over 100 apps. The iPhone 4 is not 4G. I've also found there aren't nearly as many free apps on the apple app store compared to the google play store. I will almost certainly root any phone I get. I just need it to be fairly powerful and very reliable. I like the HTC rezound and razr but am not so sure about rooting the rezound since there is no way to totally undo it if the phone ends up having hardware problems when it would still be under warranty.
 
worf65 said:
I'm definitely going to stick with an android phone, I've never had any issues (aside from the need for some tweaks to fit so many apps) with my droid incredible even after rooting it and loading it with over 100 apps. The iPhone 4 is not 4G. I've also found there aren't nearly as many free apps on the apple app store compared to the google play store. I will almost certainly root any phone I get. I just need it to be fairly powerful and very reliable. I like the HTC rezound and razr but am not so sure about rooting the rezound since there is no way to totally undo it if the phone ends up having hardware problems when it would still be under warranty.
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Then I would take some time out of a day to go mess around with each of them and read some REAL reviews out there. Do not read reviews on here or on propaganda machines like droid life. These people just love these phones and cant find problems with them until the next one comes out and then they dump all over it. See what places like engadget and others have to say, not these google bootlickers.

I hope you make the right call and get the best on for you...if unlocked bootloader is really high on your list, maybe it is the gnex. However I truly think the UI is laggy and choppy and the radios have serious signal issues. these were deal breakers for me. Google/samsung/verizon dont give a crap about updating it to fix these bugs, but if you dont mind tinkering to do it yourself you might be happier than I was with it. Good luck my man!
 
If you like to try out roms and tweaking, then nexus is your best bet. Although, you'll have to deal with poor signal and battery life. The rezound wouldn't be a bad choice either since HTC phones have always had great development community support.

However, if you want a solid and reliable phone, I suggest the razr maxx. This is what I'm using now. It has great build, reception and call quality. The battery is amazing. Its the first phone I've owned where I could use it heavily and still make it through the entire day. You can root it, but bootloader is encrypted so you can't do roms or replace radios on it.

If you can wait, galaxy s3 and Droid fighter (Droid razr HD) are suppose to come out soon.
 
I think both the RAZR MAXX and Rezound are pretty even. The Galaxy Nexus is either below them, or above them, depending on what you want to do with it. If you like to flash radios, ROMs, custom kernels, etc. The GNex is the only phone for you on Verizon. It has by far the most developer support, and the 4.0.4 radios get it pretty close to decent radios, as long as you don't get a defective one. If you want a stock phone, right now I can't recommend the GNex based on its been almost 6 months running on a completely unacceptable software version, and Verizon is not stepping up to the plate to support it in a timely fashion.
 
AntimonyER said:
If you like to flash radios, ROMs, custom kernels, etc. The GNex is the only phone for you on Verizon. It has by far the most developer support, and the 4.0.4 radios get it pretty close to decent radios, as long as you don't get a defective one. If you want a stock phone, right now I can't recommend the GNex based on its been almost 6 months running on a completely unacceptable software version, and Verizon is not stepping up to the plate to support it in a timely fashion.
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Agreed. Even though the Nexus is a "Google" phone, it won't get updates quickly (or anywhere near reasonable) as long as you're on Verizon. Having said that, if you root you will have access to all the latest Android versions and radios.

The biggest complaints you'll see from the GNex are battery life and signal issues. For better battery life, turn off GPS, sync, and 4G. 4G is the biggest battery drain for me, because the 4G signal isn't as strong in my area as most. Therefore, my phone will constantly drop 4G and go to 3G, then switch back to 4G and back to 3G, etc. Switching networks is a HUGE battery drain. So, I turn off 4G and only turn it back on when I need it (uploading files, browsing the web, etc.) Interestingly enough, keeping 4G off also really helps my signal issues. I can hold a 3G signal for just about the entire day without dropping it. If I have 4G on all day, my phone will last about 6 hours. If I have 3G on all day, it will last about a day and a half.
 
dylo22 said:
However, if you want a solid and reliable phone, I suggest the razr maxx. This is what I'm using now. It has great build, reception and call quality. The battery is amazing. Its the first phone I've owned where I could use it heavily and still make it through the entire day. You can root it, but bootloader is encrypted so you can't do roms or replace radios on it.
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This is incorrect. You can do ROMs, but not replace the kernel on the Razr Maxx.

I would suggest that you explore the sub-forums for the phones you are interested in and see what actual users are saying/doing with them. Not everyone reads the Verizon forum.
 
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