Help - Cellphone upgrade time

ViperGTI

ViperGTI

New member
So my Samsung Galaxy S3 decided to stop working properly. Keeps freezing, screen goes weird (like some kind of interference) and Vodacom can fix, but it will leave me 21 days without a phone and everything deleted.

So any suggestions. Haven't done any research on cellphones recently. Just no iPhone or Blackberry. I've always been a fan of HTC and Windows Phone has always been in the back of my head. So to try to narrow it down, can anybody give feedback on some of these phones and the points? I'm quite open to the different brands as long as they are running on Android or Windows. I'll do some technical research myself like comparing the specs, but this is more to get a personal input and experiences with these phones.

  • Nokia Lumia - Windows Phone - Are the most important services like Whatsapp, etc. available on Windows Store yet?
  • Nokia Lumia - Two years ago when I was looking at this, there were quite a lot of problems with it. Any idea if that has been sorted out?
  • Sony Xperia - How is the camera quality? I've heard some bad things but I don't know the source

Any feedback and recommendations you can provide will be appreciated.
 
Lumia 930 is a awesome phone and yes what's app is available.

if you liked Samsung I'll recommend you look at the S5 aswell.

but for me I dig the 930. windows 8.1 on a phone makes sense. it's fast and in the 2 years I had my Lumia 920 it did not freeze on me once.
 
I have the Xperia Z2. Awesome phone in my opinion. Takes a lot of pictures, from nature scenes, people, our dogs running around, my spiders, and even documents. I'm happy with the quality. I almost always take pictures with the Superior Auto function. One issue though is that the panorama shots aren't high quality and I haven't found a place to change the setting - but I've only wanted to take panoramas on 1 or 2 occasions so I might have missed the setting.

Here's some pics to show you. I can't find a photo taken with manual settings set on 21MP now...

Pic taken with Auto function:
1wIVxv2.jpg


Panorama taken:
WYSBkk2.jpg
 
You can go for the S5 ,LG G3 or HTC One (M8) the htc screen size is not as efficiently used as the G3.

Whats wrong with the phone is it hardware related or software related it may be worth trying to root and install a custom rom, mine is running carbon kitkat 4.4.4 and its fast and works like a charm?
 
I'm also due for an upgrade, but just can't decide on a phone. Was waiting for reviews of the Nexus6, but now that they are out, it seems the phone has quite slow flash, which makes it sluggish.

The phone that had my attention the most was the LG G3, however I see a reports of it overheating, so I am not sure how big of an issue this really is.
The HTC One M8 is not, but I've handled it, and it feels awkward almost. It is long and narrow (compared to the other top end phones) and t he battery life (at least according to reviews) is not as good.

Right now it feels like I will kind of settle for the S5, because nothing else looks better.

If anyone has some personal experience with any of these phones, that would be great, as specs only tell half the story.
Sorry for the semi thread hijack, but I'm sure Viper can use any feedback from my questions in his decision as well.
 
Nokia Lumia - Two years ago when I was looking at this, there were quite a lot of problems with it. Any idea if that has been sorted out?
Click to expand...
I have these problems with the Nokia Lumia.
Can't put a custom ringtone/message tone (update was suppost to fix this, still can't do it.) It took me 3 weeks struggling with the settings just to find out that it does not support custom.
The sound on this phone is so soft I can never hear when I get watsapp message or text messages.
Also the games are all meh.
 
I recently changed from my Windows phone (HTC Windows Phone 8X) back to Android. There was nothing wrong with the OS per se and it did everything I needed from a phone. However, HTC dropped the ball and there were NO accessories or support or anything for the phone. The OS struggled with support in the beginning but it caught on nicely.

My current phone is a Galaxy S4. It is snappy, works very well and again, does everything I need it to. The latest trend of phones getting bigger and bigger annoys me a bit. Yes, the bigger screens make for easier touch integration, but not pocket integration. But if you take a smaller phone the system is gimped to the point that phones like the S4 Mini is not worthy of the S4 name.

With that in mind I just signed for my new contract on Friday to get the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. It is nearly identical to the flagship Z3, apart from the smaller screen, and it has 2gb ram vs the bigger brother's 3gb. It fits in my hand and is waterproof when it falls out. It has a smaller screen and resolution (720p) and thus also a huge battery life. Oh, and it makes phone calls!!! This sounds like a mini phone done right.

So that is MY take on what phone to get next :)
 
Blazzok said:
I'm also due for an upgrade, but just can't decide on a phone. Was waiting for reviews of the Nexus6, but now that they are out, it seems the phone has quite slow flash, which makes it sluggish.

The phone that had my attention the most was the LG G3, however I see a reports of it overheating, so I am not sure how big of an issue this really is.
The HTC One M8 is not, but I've handled it, and it feels awkward almost. It is long and narrow (compared to the other top end phones) and t he battery life (at least according to reviews) is not as good.

Right now it feels like I will kind of settle for the S5, because nothing else looks better.

If anyone has some personal experience with any of these phones, that would be great, as specs only tell half the story.
Sorry for the semi thread hijack, but I'm sure Viper can use any feedback from my questions in his decision as well.
Click to expand...

Why don't you consider the Sony Xperia range as well? I have a Z2 and it's a great device. The battery life might be one of its biggest plusses - I'm not the lightest of users (wifi and GPS always on, loads of IM, receive lots of calls, Tapatalk when I have a couple of spare minutes) and easily end a day off with 60% battery life still left.

One thing that always gets overlooker is speaker quality when talking on the phone. My HTC One X was incredibly bad in this department, but luckily the Z2 has a loud and clear speaker - so much so that I have to put the volume down to around 75%.
 
I've got a Lumia 1320 and I love it. But then my previous phone was also a Windows Phone. I just can't go back to Android after using WP.

Oh and Whatsapp and all that are available on the Windows Phone store. Some places still don't support anything but Android and iPhone though, like Takealot.
 
Thanks for all the feedback.
Decided to go for the Lumia 1520 to try out Windows phone again for a change (will just upgrade it to Windows 8.1 as soon as I get it). Have always liked the Windows phones. FNB doesn't have the Lumia 930 so 1520 it is.
I suppose what swayed me was the combination between battery life, responsiveness and price. The first two being the stuff that usually frustrates me the most about my current phone. Hate it when a phone freezes or if I click something and nothing happens. I do upgrade again in January so if I'm not happy with the Windows phone, I can simply get the Samsung S5 which seems like a safe option. However, since my phone is currently not working, I need to get another one now. Sony is a bit more expensive than I would prefer (R500 pm) whereas the Nokia comes down to R365.

As for the apps, if I'm really honest, I don't really use much. I use Whatsapp, FNB and Snapscan. Facebook I only use for the notifications and the rest of the apps, I only use a couple of times a year like Gautrain, Skype and Evernote.

Besides, I've got all the tools I need to develop Windows Phone apps if I ever want to create additional functionality. Then again, I've had all those tools before when I've had Windows phones and after many years, I've developed a total of 0 apps for my phones. But at least it's an option. :p
 
As far as I have heard the 1520 was discontinued or not available anymore as they will be replaced by something new.

My experience was good but not great with Windows Phone. The updates were always late or I never received some of them on my 920. The keyboard was absolute garbage and if you have fat finger you are buggered. I realize that a 1520 is much larger but I was not impressed with Nokia as a whole. Battery life was bad and the 1520 especially felt like a lopsided smooth brick that would be prone to being dropped.

I did a lot of research and tried a few phones before I upgraded to my Note 4. In the end it won out because it was the best currently available specs wise. And the S-Pen just adds a few nifty extra features that makes the phone more than just a Whatsapp tool. It has the QHD display as well so it was a winner for me. I have had no real issue with it except the normal Vodacom network problems in my area. The new Touchwiz GUI is also pretty good as a standard GUI.

The LG G3 is very nice but it is prone to overheating, if your brightness is just slightly too high and you use the phone for a long time it will overheat and shut down. The QHD display also drains the battery very quickly (something the Note 4 does not do).

The HTC One M8 is a magnificent phone, build quality and its Sense GUI is something you will notice the first time you use it. It is however smooth aluminum and slips out of the hand without the tightest grips. Its sound is also suppose to be great but there is a nasty vibration to it when going full blast. The Note 4 has slight distortion if you max out the sound with youtube etc. but it is VERY loud then.

Watch out for Nokia and Windows phone, ease of use is probably their biggest selling point but the phones feel awkward and large to handle and the performance is really bad most of the time.

Best thing to do is go to a shop, like Cellucity and look at all of the phones and hold some demos in your hands to get a feel.

Another thing I forgot to mention - batteries can't be changed with the new Nokias and HTCs. Samsung and LG and others can have a replacement battery installed by yourself should your phone start suffering later on. The Note 4 also has fast charging, I charged my phone in 50 mins from 11% to 100% yesterday, sometimes it is quicker other times a few minutes longer but the max I have seen is 80 Mins and it was fully charged.
 
ViperGTI said:
Thanks for all the feedback.
Decided to go for the Lumia 1520 to try out Windows phone again for a change (will just upgrade it to Windows 8.1 as soon as I get it). Have always liked the Windows phones. FNB doesn't have the Lumia 930 so 1520 it is.
I suppose what swayed me was the combination between battery life, responsiveness and price. The first two being the stuff that usually frustrates me the most about my current phone. Hate it when a phone freezes or if I click something and nothing happens. I do upgrade again in January so if I'm not happy with the Windows phone, I can simply get the Samsung S5 which seems like a safe option. However, since my phone is currently not working, I need to get another one now. Sony is a bit more expensive than I would prefer (R500 pm) whereas the Nokia comes down to R365.

As for the apps, if I'm really honest, I don't really use much. I use Whatsapp, FNB and Snapscan. Facebook I only use for the notifications and the rest of the apps, I only use a couple of times a year like Gautrain, Skype and Evernote.

Besides, I've got all the tools I need to develop Windows Phone apps if I ever want to create additional functionality. Then again, I've had all those tools before when I've had Windows phones and after many years, I've developed a total of 0 apps for my phones. But at least it's an option. :p
Click to expand...

Haha that's the same reason why I got a Windows Phone in the beginning. It's a blessing for us .Net developers. I also never released any apps but I did write one that I used personally. That was on Windows Phone 7 though. For Windows Phone 8.1 I wrote a "Hello World" app so far. :)

The 1520 is huge! Just like mine. I love it. And yours will be even faster so I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
 
I've got the Sony Xperia V, and it's been giving me no end of trouble. Can't wait for July when I'll upgrade to a Samsung.

The phone would die off and on, which is especially irritating in the middle of a call. Replaced battery twice already, seems to be sorted out now (with a generic battery) - but the call volume is still a problem (people can't hear me, need to put the phone on speaker phone in order to be heard properly). Tried everything except for rooting, which is my next step. Only got a couple of months left on contract, so I think I'll give it a go.

Sony's support in SA is really lacking, and once you have some serious issues with your device you're gonna have a bad time. If you're lucky and encounter no problems, good for you.
 
I have the Sony Xperia C, nice phone overall.
I missed my pocket and the phone dropped a couple feet and had a nasty fall on to a paved pathway, screen completely cracked meant it had to go in for repairs.
Quote accepted and R2500 later I eagerly wait for my phone to come back.
 
simon said:
I have the Sony Xperia C, nice phone overall.
I missed my pocket and the phone dropped a couple feet and had a nasty fall on to a paved pathway, screen completely cracked meant it had to go in for repairs.
Quote accepted and R2500 later I eagerly wait for my phone to come back.
Click to expand...

Sheesh, the cost to repair your phone costs more than my phone brand new. Crazy stuff.
 
Ok, change of plan. I just cancelled my order. I actually went to check the size of the damn thing. It is HUGE. Also, FNB takes 15 days to deliver.
So I'll go look at alternative methods to get either the Nokia Lumia 930 or Samsung Galaxy S5. Takealot has it in stock for R8.3k, but I don't really want to pay for it once-off like that.
 
ViperGTI said:
Ok, change of plan. I just cancelled my order. I actually went to check the size of the damn thing. It is HUGE. Also, FNB takes 15 days to deliver.
So I'll go look at alternative methods to get either the Nokia Lumia 930 or Samsung Galaxy S5. Takealot has it in stock for R8.3k, but I don't really want to pay for it once-off like that.
Click to expand...

Yep, it's a proper phablet. :) I hope you get something that's more to your liking.
 
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