Current best Verizon phone?

O

okashira

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jul 7, 2005
Messages
1,802
I am getting a work cell and can select anything from Verizon, except an iPhone. Android seems like a logical choice since I like my EVO with Sprint.

I am pretty sure the plan will include 4G LTE access.

I see

DROID 3
LG Revolution
DROID X2
DROID Incredible 2
HTC Thunderbolt
Xperia Play
DROID Charge


If it was sprint, the choice would be easy - the EVO 3D for the qHd screen and 4G. But the closest Verizon has is the Thunderbolt which is only 800x480.

The Charge is not dual core, but has the nice OLED screen.
The DROID X2 has the qHd screen, but no 4G LTE

Cyanogen or good updated custom ROM support (like the EVO) is also a plus.
 
Can you wait for something better? Lots of new phones around the corner with less compromises.
 
AeonF1 said:
Can you wait for something better? Lots of new phones around the corner with less compromises.
Click to expand...

Indeed. Bionic is almost 3 weeks away and Samsung has a huge announcement to make on the GS2 on the 29th, so it should be shipping that day or very soon afterwords. I've been hanging onto my POS Droid until one of those two phones launch. I don't think I can make it to the new Nexus phone (which should be here around November).
 
I can wait if need be. I am antsy to get something as I will sell my current phone(s) (EVO, TP2) and plan (hopefully, via transfer of liability - SERO 500 $30/mo) and am paying off a CC.

So you guys are saying wait three weeks and I will be able to order:

DRIOD BIONIC
Samsung Galaxy S II (Samsung Stratosphere??)

I looked them up and they indeed remove the comprimises discussed, well, except the screen resolution for the Galaxy... :mad:
 
Can you not get an iPhone or do you not want an iPhone?
 
Are you keeping your Sprint phone and will be carrying two? You should check out the Trophy, you might be surprised at how well WP7 works and you can upgrade it to Mango right now if you like to read threads. I switched from Android to WP7 for my main phone, and have a 7" Android tablet still so I get the best of both worlds. :) Take this chance to try something new.
 
OEM said:
Can you not get an iPhone or do you not want an iPhone?
Click to expand...

Both. :p Here's the email reply from our assistant:

Yes, anything that involves the company cell phones for this facility has to come through me. Attached is the order form for getting you a new cell phone. It has to be approved by _____ and also by ____ _____and then returned to me so that I can get ____ _____approval. Then it will be sent to IT for ordering. Please fill in the type of phone youwant (no iPhones). You can see the various phones that Verizon offers at www.verizonwireless.com.

Thank you,
____

OldPueblo said:
Are you keeping your Sprint phone and will be carrying two? You should check out the Trophy, you might be surprised at how well WP7 works and you can upgrade it to Mango right now if you like to read threads. I switched from Android to WP7 for my main phone, and have a 7" Android tablet still so I get the best of both worlds. :) Take this chance to try something new.
Click to expand...


I intend on cancelling my selling my current plan and phone and carrying one. I currently have circa 2007 SERO 500. But free is even a better deal then $30/mo and I get unlimited 4G LTE :D
 
Be sure you have 4G access in your area before you even consider that a factor. :)
 
Well, don't get a Droid2. Mine just quit working. Android fucking sucks.

/the truth.
 
OEM said:
Well, don't get a Droid2. Mine just quit working. Android fucking sucks.

/the truth.
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence

Also the Droid 3 looks to be your best choice, it has the larger resolution you seem to care about and reviewed really well:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4551/motorola-droid-3-review-third-times-a-charm

Downside, no 4G. But honestly, I highly doubt you'll use it often especially since it sucks a ton of battery. I wouldn't consider it a deal breaker, especially if you'd be choosing an older/lesser device. AND wireless is everywhere so you can still get fast data speeds quite often.
 
OldPueblo said:
Be sure you have 4G access in your area before you even consider that a factor. :)
Click to expand...

Yes in houston we do. Don't know "how" it is, though.

OldPueblo said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence

Also the Droid 3 looks to be your best choice, it has the larger resolution you seem to care about and reviewed really well:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4551/motorola-droid-3-review-third-times-a-charm

Downside, no 4G. But honestly, I highly doubt you'll use it often especially since it sucks a ton of battery. I wouldn't consider it a deal breaker, especially if you'd be choosing an older/lesser device. AND wireless is everywhere so you can still get fast data speeds quite often.
Click to expand...

Yes, the D3 does look perfect except for the 4G. But the thing is, if 4G LTE is good enough, I could cancel my home internet and just tether like a madman when at home. :eek::cool:

criccio said:
FTFY

damn trolls...
Click to expand...

That's funny, my coworker *just* told me just don't get the Droid 2 'cause it sucks. :p His locks up, etc. But since that's not a good reason to conclude "Android sucks," I'll just ignore that advise.
 
I think I might hold out 3 weeks for the DROID BIONIC. Per the specs, it's perfect. (LTE, qHd, dual core, great camera (should be same as DROID 3 camera which is awesome per the anandtech review)

Thanks guys! Almost picked up a T-Bolt and the BIONIC should be a nice upgrade for 3 week wait.
 
okashira said:
I think I might hold out 3 weeks for the DROID BIONIC. Per the specs, it's perfect. (LTE, qHd, dual core, great camera (should be same as DROID 3 camera which is awesome per the anandtech review)

Thanks guys! Almost picked up a T-Bolt and the BIONIC should be a nice upgrade for 3 week wait.
Click to expand...

Good call. I'm going to have a hard time deciding between the Bionic and the GS2. If the GS2 has a qHD screen, then it would be no contest. But then again the Bionics screen will be a pentile display which is mediocre compared to any other display.
 
I might be alone, but if I were to get a Verizon phone right now, I'd get the Casio G'zOne Commando. My work environment is pretty hard on my phone (I use it to listen to music), so having something that's military grade would be great for me.
 
simonizor said:
I might be alone, but if I were to get a Verizon phone right now, I'd get the Casio G'zOne Commando. My work environment is pretty hard on my phone (I use it to listen to music), so having something that's military grade would be great for me.
Click to expand...

As someone who use to use "military garde" laptops in the military even military grade shit sucks.
 
OEM said:
As someone who use to use "military garde" laptops in the military even military grade shit sucks.
Click to expand...

i dunno, i tossed a Toughbook CF-28 around for several years without missing a lick. Falls off counters and all.....they are heavy as sin and ugly as hell but tough they are.

on topic though, if you talk a LOT and mostly need a good PHONE, get the Moto Droid X2

if 4G is important based on where you will be using it, I would get the Charge, its everything the Thunderbolt wanted to be, but with better battery life and much lighter weight

honestly, 4G is a complete waste now that data caps are in effect, do NOT plan to tether with it unless you are rooted and running PDANet or similar and even then you are subject to the cap....2Gb? You'll blow that load in an hour or two tethering. Don't even go there. Besides, what happens when your IT department gets a overage bill because you tethered it and blew over the cap? You don't want that.

One thing many people don't consider in these situations is the active security policy your sys admin should have that is forced to your phone if you are going to get corporate exchange emails, which is the only reason to give you a company phone. Check this out.

I have my own personal Droid Charge. For my convenience I synced it to the exchange server but in order to get on I had to allow the following security policy:

AllowBluetoothMode = 2
AllowBrowser = true
AllowCamera = true
AllowDesktopSync = true
AllowHTMLEmail = true
AllowInternetSharing = true
AllowIrDA = true
AllowPOPIMAPEmail = true
AllowSMIMEEncryptionAlgorithmNegotiation = true
AllowSMIMESoftCerts = true
AllowStorageCard = true
AllowTextMessaging = true
AllowWifi = true
AttachmentsEnabled = true
DeviceEncryptionEnabled = false
MaxAttachmentSize = 0
MaxCalendarAgeFilter = 0
MaxEmailAgeFilter = 0
MaxEmailBodyTruncationSize = 0
MaxEmailHtmlBodyTruncationSize = 0
MaxInactivityTimeDeviceLock = 0
PasswordMode = 0
RequireDeviceEncryption = false
RequireEncryptedSMIMEMessages = false
RequireEncryptionSMIMEAlgorithm = false
RequireManualSyncWhenRoaming = true
RequireSignedSMIMEAlgorithm = false
RequireSignedSMIMEMessages = false


So if your plan is to drop your personal phone and rely on this one you should probably be aware of what they can actually control on the device. They can lock that shit down so tight any time they like and tell you to go pound sand if you dont like it.

Back when I was issued a company cell I kept my personal cell and I'm glad I carried it too. For years everything was ok. Then some people started using up a ton of data and minutes, then we all got told to curtail usage.....fuck them. I'll carry two phones or I will carry my own personal one but I will always have control. I can remove it from exchange server any time.
 
T4rd said:
Good call. I'm going to have a hard time deciding between the Bionic and the GS2. If the GS2 has a qHD screen, then it would be no contest. But then again the Bionics screen will be a pentile display which is mediocre compared to any other display.
Click to expand...

That is exactly why I picked the BIONIC. OLED is awesome, but I aint giving up resolution to get it. If it were a desktop gaming display, that's another deal. I'd give my left nut for a desktop OLED display

simonizor said:
I might be alone, but if I were to get a Verizon phone right now, I'd get the Casio G'zOne Commando. My work environment is pretty hard on my phone (I use it to listen to music), so having something that's military grade would be great for me.
Click to expand...

You're alone. :D

nobody_here said:
i dunno, i tossed a Toughbook CF-28 around for several years without missing a lick. Falls off counters and all.....they are heavy as sin and ugly as hell but tough they are.

on topic though, if you talk a LOT and mostly need a good PHONE, get the Moto Droid X2

if 4G is important based on where you will be using it, I would get the Charge, its everything the Thunderbolt wanted to be, but with better battery life and much lighter weight

honestly, 4G is a complete waste now that data caps are in effect, do NOT plan to tether with it unless you are rooted and running PDANet or similar and even then you are subject to the cap....2Gb? You'll blow that load in an hour or two tethering. Don't even go there. Besides, what happens when your IT department gets a overage bill because you tethered it and blew over the cap? You don't want that.

One thing many people don't consider in these situations is the active security policy your sys admin should have that is forced to your phone if you are going to get corporate exchange emails, which is the only reason to give you a company phone. Check this out.

I have my own personal Droid Charge. For my convenience I synced it to the exchange server but in order to get on I had to allow the following security policy:

AllowBluetoothMode = 2
AllowBrowser = true
AllowCamera = true
AllowDesktopSync = true
AllowHTMLEmail = true
AllowInternetSharing = true
AllowIrDA = true
AllowPOPIMAPEmail = true
AllowSMIMEEncryptionAlgorithmNegotiation = true
AllowSMIMESoftCerts = true
AllowStorageCard = true
AllowTextMessaging = true
AllowWifi = true
AttachmentsEnabled = true
DeviceEncryptionEnabled = false
MaxAttachmentSize = 0
MaxCalendarAgeFilter = 0
MaxEmailAgeFilter = 0
MaxEmailBodyTruncationSize = 0
MaxEmailHtmlBodyTruncationSize = 0
MaxInactivityTimeDeviceLock = 0
PasswordMode = 0
RequireDeviceEncryption = false
RequireEncryptedSMIMEMessages = false
RequireEncryptionSMIMEAlgorithm = false
RequireManualSyncWhenRoaming = true
RequireSignedSMIMEAlgorithm = false
RequireSignedSMIMEMessages = false


So if your plan is to drop your personal phone and rely on this one you should probably be aware of what they can actually control on the device. They can lock that shit down so tight any time they like and tell you to go pound sand if you dont like it.

Back when I was issued a company cell I kept my personal cell and I'm glad I carried it too. For years everything was ok. Then some people started using up a ton of data and minutes, then we all got told to curtail usage.....fuck them. I'll carry two phones or I will carry my own personal one but I will always have control. I can remove it from exchange server any time.
Click to expand...

Well, it is a shared corporate plan, and we throw around money like noone's business (you have no idea). But maybe I will give a second thought to heavy tethering. We'll see. Would be so nice to say fuck you to AT&T for their UVERSE data cap AND price hike. (well ill say it now anyways, fuck you ATT)

Yeah, of course they enforce device settings, I am on it now with my EVO and no real complaints. BTW, when I was running cyanogenmod, that seemed to... circumvent these requirements, FYI. :eek:
 
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I would just be aware of the consequences of blowing your data cap. There's no way in hell I would expect to be able to get rid of any other data services with a 2Gb capped 4G tethering plan as the solution.

Honestly I have a hard time recommending a 4G phone to any friends now that there's a 2Gb cap. They are great for us grandfathered-in users. Hopefully they (Verizon) will honor this until the situation changes to something less draconian.
 
Wow, lol, 2GB is totally laughable. What a joke. It didn't even don on me how small that is.
I will go ahead and make sure to break that for a couple bills in a row (4GB or so) and see what happens. There is a possibility that data is shared like minutes are shared among the company (they give us no limit for minutes). Or, perhaps, we are exempt / grandfathered from that with the group plan. Thanks for the warning.

I have used 75-100GB in a month on a couple occasions with my SERO plan. That's with 3G.
 
4G to me would probably be useful that one time a year when I absolutely needed to download something really big immediately, and couldn't wait to get near a free wireless point at home, work, anywhere.
 
nobody_here said:
I would just be aware of the consequences of blowing your data cap. There's no way in hell I would expect to be able to get rid of any other data services with a 2Gb capped 4G tethering plan as the solution.

Honestly I have a hard time recommending a 4G phone to any friends now that there's a 2Gb cap. They are great for us grandfathered-in users. Hopefully they (Verizon) will honor this until the situation changes to something less draconian.
Click to expand...

Data throttling over 2.5GB coming in October (according to PC Mag). You go from 10-20 Mbps to 256 Kbps. If that's really the case, I'm going to see if I can get out of my contract since they are changing the terms of it.
 
I got unlimited with verizon on the last day just for this purpose. I've also had a 3g USB modem for years and years, I never use it, but I got it when the plans were really unlimited. Verizon claims I'm good to go as far as upgrading to 4g devices goes, but I have a hard time believing that I could chew through 100GB in one month without getting some kind of nasty letter.

The new plans are $30 for 2GB, $50 for 5GB, and $80 for 10GB I think. If you could get a mobile wifi hotspot modem on 4G with unlimited data -- well that would be awesome. The real problems is the phones -- my phone may not make it much longer. I've been out of contract for 5 years and have just bought phones on ebay. But I need something new and I really want 4G, but the pickin's are slim these days.
 
kirbyrj said:
Data throttling over 2.5GB coming in October (according to PC Mag). You go from 10-20 Mbps to 256 Kbps. If that's really the case, I'm going to see if I can get out of my contract since they are changing the terms of it.
Click to expand...

why is pcmag the only one making this vague suggestion? i think a move that drastic may be grounds for dismissal of the contract. I'm no attorney or anything but that's offering considerably less service for the same money, it's not even comparable really. .5Gb over a non-unlimited customer? That's what we get for financing their LTE network for the past years?
 
ckryan said:
But I need something new and I really want 4G, but the pickin's are slim these days.
Click to expand...

I agree. If I had to choose, I'd go with the Thunderbolt over the Charge only because it has more development in the "community." I got the Charge since it was worth more for resale, but I never liked it as much as my brother's Thunderbolt other than the screen which is amazing.
 
nobody_here said:
why is pcmag the only one making this vague suggestion? i think a move that drastic may be grounds for dismissal of the contract. I'm no attorney or anything but that's offering considerably less service for the same money, it's not even comparable really. .5Gb over a non-unlimited customer? That's what we get for financing their LTE network for the past years?
Click to expand...

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2390591,00.asp

That's where I saw it.
 
kirbyrj said:
I agree. If I had to choose, I'd go with the Thunderbolt over the Charge only because it has more development in the "community." I got the Charge since it was worth more for resale, but I never liked it as much as my brother's Thunderbolt other than the screen which is amazing.
Click to expand...

the Charge will surpass the Thunderbolt I am willing to bet, unlocked from the word go and essentially it is a GalaxyS + 4G radio and larger second gen AMOLED screen. We already have custom UV/OC kernels, Gingerbread roms, Clockwork Recovery, on the Charge and its only been out a couple months or so....some of the Fascinate devs moved to the Charge so a lot of the work is already done

if i can get CM7 on my Charge im good until my contract expires
 
I have the Droid Charge and love it. The screen is amazing.

Overall, I love the hardware, right down to the physical buttons on the front instead of the capacitive ones.

I am on 4G LTE all day on a single battery charge so I don't know why some people are having high battery drain problems. I don't think every is getting that.

I was a Sense fan big time, but TouchWiz won me over.

The LTE speeds are insane, it's faster than my home connection. (sorry for the huge screenshot, but that is the native resolution of the Charge.)
SC20110619-143839.png


If anyone tells you 4G isn't that big of a deal... they probably either don't have a LTE phone or LTE coverage.
 
nobody_here said:
the Charge will surpass the Thunderbolt I am willing to bet, unlocked from the word go and essentially it is a GalaxyS + 4G radio and larger second gen AMOLED screen. We already have custom UV/OC kernels, Gingerbread roms, Clockwork Recovery, on the Charge and its only been out a couple months or so....some of the Fascinate devs moved to the Charge so a lot of the work is already done

if i can get CM7 on my Charge im good until my contract expires
Click to expand...

I loved my Inspire 4G when it was rooted and OC'd to 1.5Ghz. When I moved back to Verizon to get in on unlimited data, I got the charge and it never seemed as fast even when I put a custom kernel on it and OC'd it (and did the voodoo lagfix). The lagfix actually seemed to slow it down. That was on the stock ROM though. I might have had better luck on a different one.

nobody_here said:
yes i read the article but it was a one-liner tossed in in the middle of a paragraph about how ATT was going to throttle its heaviest customers. none of the major channels in android news are carrying a story on it. something that profound would get its own article i would think
Click to expand...

I hope you're right, but this is kind of how the whole 2GB cap played out. Started as rumor and then became fact.
 
kirbyrj said:
I loved my Inspire 4G when it was rooted and OC'd to 1.5Ghz. When I moved back to Verizon to get in on unlimited data, I got the charge and it never seemed as fast even when I put a custom kernel on it and OC'd it (and did the voodoo lagfix). The lagfix actually seemed to slow it down. That was on the stock ROM though. I might have had better luck on a different one.



I hope you're right, but this is kind of how the whole 2GB cap played out. Started as rumor and then became fact.
Click to expand...

The AOSP builds such as the mtd/yaffs CM7 blow away any touchwiz based voodoo ext4 based roms. By a large margin. If you haven't had a device as powerful as these on AOSP code then you don't realize how much it was holding it back. On my fascinate on CM7 I was pulling 3000 quad scores on a mild and stable 1.4Ghz while undervolted running the Glitch ML MTD kernel and still got my 10-12 hours of fairly heavy use out of it.

Samsung was so impressed with his code they aparrently offered him a job.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/0...ile-and-their-babies-will-be-picture-perfect/
 
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Met-AL said:
I have the Droid Charge and love it. The screen is amazing.

Overall, I love the hardware, right down to the physical buttons on the front instead of the capacitive ones.

I am on 4G LTE all day on a single battery charge so I don't know why some people are having high battery drain problems. I don't think every is getting that.

I was a Sense fan big time, but TouchWiz won me over.

The LTE speeds are insane, it's faster than my home connection. (sorry for the huge screenshot, but that is the native resolution of the Charge.)
SC20110619-143839.png


If anyone tells you 4G isn't that big of a deal... they probably either don't have a LTE phone or LTE coverage.
Click to expand...

470 seconds. 7.8 minutes. That's how long it will take you to break your monthly cap at that speed.
 
OldPueblo said:
4G to me would probably be useful that one time a year when I absolutely needed to download something really big immediately, and couldn't wait to get near a free wireless point at home, work, anywhere.
Click to expand...
To me it's night and day between 3G and 4G. Everything is faster on LTE. Lower ping, faster web page loading, HQ youtube plays pretty much instantly and doesn't buffer after starting, I can watch live streaming mlb.tv in hd on my phone or tablet, the coverage is far superior to the vzw 3G in Los Angeles. I don't even use wifi anymore period, it drains the battery faster and I'm never without 4G anywhere near me. I could NEVER go back.
 
BeavermanA said:
To me it's night and day between 3G and 4G. Everything is faster on LTE. Lower ping, faster web page loading, HQ youtube plays pretty much instantly and doesn't buffer after starting, I can watch live streaming mlb.tv in hd on my phone or tablet, the coverage is far superior to the vzw 3G in Los Angeles. I don't even use wifi anymore period, it drains the battery faster and I'm never without 4G anywhere near me. I could NEVER go back.
Click to expand...
I was pretty set on the new BB 9930 but it looks like it doesn't have 4G. I've got good 4G coverage in my areas (Atlanta & Vegas) so it's a must in my next phone.
 
BeavermanA said:
To me it's night and day between 3G and 4G. Everything is faster on LTE. Lower ping, faster web page loading, HQ youtube plays pretty much instantly and doesn't buffer after starting, I can watch live streaming mlb.tv in hd on my phone or tablet, the coverage is far superior to the vzw 3G in Los Angeles. I don't even use wifi anymore period, it drains the battery faster and I'm never without 4G anywhere near me. I could NEVER go back.
Click to expand...

Have you tried to game on LTE? It actually works quite nicely for gaming. I play BC2 and SOF2 on it nicely.

okashira said:
470 seconds. 7.8 minutes. That's how long it will take you to break your monthly cap at that speed.
Click to expand...
Kinda hard to do that when you don't have a cap....
SC20110816-094715.png
 
Thanks for starting this thread. It got me more interested in checking out the Bionic. I had been interested in the Incredible 2 which is a pretty good phone right now, but the more I thought about it I think 2 years from now when I am looking for a new phone I would be resenting the Inc 2 for being slow/underpowered. The dual core processor might be mostly useless right now, but maybe it will be utilized by something in the future.
 
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