Can't decide between 4S on Verizon or Droid Razr Maxx

[cynics]

OP

Here you go. I'm in Baltimore, MD testing to a Baltimore, MD site.

Still not impressive. And I admit I had to test it 5 times to get over 1 mbs.

Switched back to my LTE hotspot.

Same location same time. The range of LTE is very impressive too. I'll get LTE in the strangest places.

Verizon is trying to transition to an all LTE network. I think I read they aren't taking on new phones unless they are LTE.

 

[cynics]

What ad blocker are you using? I need to install one.

None, sometimes ads don't pop up in speedtest for me for some reason. My phone is a 4S on stock iOS 5.1.

Edit : I just realized ads don't pop up sometimes because my connection is too slow to download them lol.

 

[taeclee99]

If you are going to stick with android on verizon, you should get a galaxy nexus.
Battery life is worse on it but all other specs are better than the Maxx.
Plus it's (almost) a pure google experience with ICS.

 

[Bear]

...
Against iPhone:
I already have an iOS device (my iPad)
...

That shouldn't be a mark against the iPhone. You get Apps that work on both. Sharing data between the two is easy. And if you actually pay for any Apps (I know some people who live almost exclusively on free Apps) you only have to pay once and you get to use them on both devices.

 

[JakeT85]

Bloomington, IL speed all day everyday. I think we are due for some upgrades.....or else just an at&t market that I didn't know about.

 

[tharepairguy]

I did not read the 3 pages incase it was mentioned above.

I ordered a new 32gb white 4S from Apple this Sunday. Received it tuesday with 5.0.1 if that helps...

 

[mrbutters]

If you are going to stick with android on verizon, you should get a galaxy nexus.
Battery life is worse on it but all other specs are better than the Maxx.
Plus it's (almost) a pure google experience with ICS.

Depends. It only has 16GB of storage and it can't be upgraded or take SD cards like the Maxx does. The camera on the Nexus is only 5MP compared to the 8MP camera on the Maxx. The build quality of the Maxx with its stainless steel sides, Kevlar backing and Gorilla Glass is superior to the Galaxy's mostly plastic parts. The stock browser on the Galaxy is awful to be honest. When you pinch to zoom on a webpage with a lot of text, it stutters a good 2-3 seconds. The screen goes completely white for a few seconds before the words reformat and show up again. It does this when you pick to zoom back out too, highly annoying. As mentioned already, battery life is nothing on the Galaxy compared to the Maxx. It has twice the battery life. Once the Maxx gets ICS in the next month or so, it will easily be the better device unless you absolutely NEED an HD display.

 

[DakotaGuy]

Love my RAZR MAXX. Battery life is better then 3G phones while running 4G LTE. There is no comparison between CDMA 3G and 4G LTE. The official ICS 4.0.3 or 4.0.4 update should be coming sometime soon to put a little life back into it, but the current 2.3.6 is rock solid stable.

The iPhone is a good device, but it is so limited on Verizon being a 3G only device. There is no way I'd go back to 3G only after having an LTE phone with excellent battery life. Right now I am at 30% with 1 day 11 hours and 23 mins on the battery. That is with moderate usage, but even with heavy use a full day and then some is not an issue. Considering it is still thinner then the iPhone that is pretty awesome. Some complain about the qHD AMOLED display, but I think it's pretty decent. The colors are nice and it's pretty bright. Also having the 4.3" size is nice for widgets and browsing.

In the end pick the phone that works best for you, but I sure wouldn't want to go back to a phone with a smaller screen, outdated slow 3G technology, and less battery life.

 

[ObsidianBlade]

I ended up going to the 4S and getting a lowly 16GB model so that I'd be able to pay my bills nearly 4 months in advance (and because they didn't have any 32GB models). He also sold me on a Verizon Jetpack MiFi, but I'm already thinking about returning it as its rather useless right now and isn't even providing a connection despite saying it's got two bars of 4G.

Here's a list of Speed Tests (the wifi ones were when the hotspot was working)

----------

OP

Here you go. I'm in Baltimore, MD testing to a Baltimore, MD site.

Image

Still not impressive. And I admit I had to test it 5 times to get over 1 mbs.

Switched back to my LTE hotspot.

Image

Same location same time. The range of LTE is very impressive too. I'll get LTE in the strangest places.

Verizon is trying to transition to an all LTE network. I think I read they aren't taking on new phones unless they are LTE.

Hey, thanks for posting this. What exactly do you mean by LTE "hotspot" do you have a device like I do or something, or do they have hotspots around the city that you can connect to?

----------

View attachment 336337

Bloomington, IL speed all day everyday. I think we are due for some upgrades.....or else just an at&t market that I didn't know about.

Ouch

----------

I did not read the 3 pages incase it was mentioned above.

I ordered a new 32gb white 4S from Apple this Sunday. Received it tuesday with 5.0.1 if that helps...

Yeah I forgot to mention that I lucked out and got an iPhone with 5.0.1. So guess what one of the first things I did was?

----------

Depends. It only has 16GB of storage and it can't be upgraded or take SD cards like the Maxx does. The camera on the Nexus is only 5MP compared to the 8MP camera on the Maxx. The build quality of the Maxx with its stainless steel sides, Kevlar backing and Gorilla Glass is superior to the Galaxy's mostly plastic parts. The stock browser on the Galaxy is awful to be honest. When you pinch to zoom on a webpage with a lot of text, it stutters a good 2-3 seconds. The screen goes completely white for a few seconds before the words reformat and show up again. It does this when you pick to zoom back out too, highly annoying. As mentioned already, battery life is nothing on the Galaxy compared to the Maxx. It has twice the battery life. Once the Maxx gets ICS in the next month or so, it will easily be the better device unless you absolutely NEED an HD display.

Yeah I'd definitely hate the Nexus if the browser is like that. The RAZR browser was a bit laggy for me too until I put ICS on it. That solved it. But for whatever reason, I still chose to go Apple.

----------

Some complain about the qHD AMOLED display, but I think it's pretty decent. The colors are nice and it's pretty bright.

Yeah I didn't understand what people were complaining about once I had it. I think it was pretty nice for a non-Retina/HD display

 

[mrbutters]

Those are awful speeds. My Maxx is way faster over LTE then your iPhone on wifi. Did you run speed tests with the Maxx while you had it?

 

[ObsidianBlade]

Those are awful speeds. My Maxx is way faster over LTE then your iPhone on wifi. Did you run speed tests with the Maxx while you had it?

Yeah, and it was faster than the LTE hotspot (generally speaking)

 

[NewYork88]

I spent a week with a Maxx,back to a 4s again. The Maxx held a call a tiny bit better although the 4S pulled slightly better RF signal and the Maxx battery is bottomless ......... After a year with a iPhone and having a Mac and iPad, Android just makes most things more difficult,maybe I'm getting lazy but iOS just makes my life so much easier.

 

[mrbutters]

I spent a week with a Maxx,back to a 4s again. The Maxx held a call a tiny bit better although the 4S pulled slightly better RF signal and the Maxx battery is bottomless ......... After a year with a iPhone and having a Mac and iPad, Android just makes most things more difficult,maybe I'm getting lazy but iOS just makes my life so much easier.

I have a Maxx and also an iPad, iMac and a MBP. Not sure how having Android makes your life more difficult Last night, I was laying in bed and wanted to watch a video I had on my iMac. Grabbed my Maxx, fired up Motocast and I was streaming it from my iMac within 20 seconds. The movie is an AVI file. If I wanted to do the same with my iPad, I couldn't since its not an MOV file and not in my iTunes. So I could argue my Android phone makes my life easier, integrates just fine with my iMac, why can't my iPad do that?

 

[TG1]

I love my Moto Razr but this photo junkie does immensely miss the Photo Stream relationship between my old iPhone and my iPad.

 

[NewYork88]

I have a Maxx and also an iPad, iMac and a MBP. Not sure how having Android makes your life more difficult Last night, I was laying in bed and wanted to watch a video I had on my iMac. Grabbed my Maxx, fired up Motocast and I was streaming it from my iMac within 20 seconds. The movie is an AVI file. If I wanted to do the same with my iPad, I couldn't since its not an MOV file and not in my iTunes. So I could argue my Android phone makes my life easier, integrates just fine with my iMac, why can't my iPad do that?

To each his own,I've had pretty much every high end Smart Phone on Verizon in the last 2.5yrs. iOS works for me,I've tried to go back to Android because I'd like a larger screen,I just can't do it,I make it 3 or 4 days and I'm done.

 

[DodgeV83]

I have a Maxx and also an iPad, iMac and a MBP. Not sure how having Android makes your life more difficult Last night, I was laying in bed and wanted to watch a video I had on my iMac. Grabbed my Maxx, fired up Motocast and I was streaming it from my iMac within 20 seconds. The movie is an AVI file. If I wanted to do the same with my iPad, I couldn't since its not an MOV file and not in my iTunes. So I could argue my Android phone makes my life easier, integrates just fine with my iMac, why can't my iPad do that?

In case you weren't aware, there are a plethora of apps that do the exact same thing on iOS. Airvideo and Goodplayer come to mind. With Goodplayer you don't need a third party app constantly running on your computer, and it supports Linux (Motocast does not).

 

[ObsidianBlade]

In case you weren't aware, there are a plethora of apps that do the exact same thing on iOS. Airvideo and Goodplayer come to mind. With Goodplayer you don't need a third party app constantly running on your computer, and it supports Linux (Motocast does not).

Ooh, do we have a Linux user in our midst?

 

[DodgeV83]

Ooh, do we have a Linux user in our midst?

Yes we do

But my next machine will likely be a Mac, I really like where OSX is going...I can't believe Apple beat Linux at their own game with the Mac Store (and iOS AppStore).

Oh, and I won't have to deal with hardware compatability issues, or random OS bugs anymore, but that story is for another thread

 

[ObsidianBlade]

Yes we do

But my next machine will likely be a Mac, I really like where OSX is going...I can't believe Apple beat Linux at their own game with the Mac Store (and iOS AppStore).

Oh, and I won't have to deal with hardware compatability issues, or random OS bugs anymore, but that story is for another thread

Yeah I dabble in Linux from time to time but I'm mostly a Windows man. I'd make this a Hackintosh if I found an easy enough guide though I think. Maybe setup a triple boot and all that. Would be cool.