Note 3 vs. Nokia Icon (with a mention of iPhone 6)

[Max(IT)]

The back cover is just fine, feels very smooth in the hand. Even when they increase the size of the screen the phone stays the same size. Thats what makes samsung so good. Unlike HTC who made the screen and the phone bigger. It's not something you want.

There will be a limit with the note size obviously.

Actually is not the same size, is slightly bigger and with noticeable bigger bezels ...


http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014...lenty-of-upgrades-so-why-does-it-feel-so-meh/

The s4 looks more "modern" than s5.
And the back plate is just a poor choice: a band aid faux leather .... I don't like the faux-everything philosophy Samsung used in their last devices, but Note 3 is much better than S5.

 

[maflynn]

Quick little status of the Icon replacement. The battery is performing better (yes I know I said I wasn't going to pay attention ) everything is working as expected.

I have a keeper

Now to wait for 8.1, which everyone expects the developer preview to hit tomorrow so I can't wait.

 

[Robster3]

Actually is not the same size, is slightly bigger and with noticeable bigger bezels ...


http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014...lenty-of-upgrades-so-why-does-it-feel-so-meh/

The s4 looks more "modern" than s5.
And the back plate is just a poor choice: a band aid faux leather .... I don't like the faux-everything philosophy Samsung used in their last devices, but Note 3 is much better than S5.

So what was your hands on experience like?

 

[The Game 161]

Actually is not the same size, is slightly bigger and with noticeable bigger bezels ...


http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014...lenty-of-upgrades-so-why-does-it-feel-so-meh/

The s4 looks more "modern" than s5.
And the back plate is just a poor choice: a band aid faux leather .... I don't like the faux-everything philosophy Samsung used in their last devices, but Note 3 is much better than S5.

I agree I like the back for note 3 far better

I hope that s5 back cover isn't the same as it will be on the note 4

 

[MRU]

Quick little status of the Icon replacement. The battery is performing better (yes I know I said I wasn't going to pay attention ) everything is working as expected.

I have a keeper

Now to wait for 8.1, which everyone expects the developer preview to hit tomorrow so I can't wait.

Yay good to hear

 

[Max(IT)]

Quick little status of the Icon replacement. The battery is performing better (yes I know I said I wasn't going to pay attention ) everything is working as expected.

I have a keeper

Now to wait for 8.1, which everyone expects the developer preview to hit tomorrow so I can't wait.

Are you going to install the developer preview ?

----------

So what was your hands on experience like?

I had the opportunity to play with it just for 20 minutes or so, far from an extensive review but I can confirm every word Ars Technica wrote (except for the fingerprint scanner that for obvious reasons I didn't try).
The worst part is TouchWiz: it is really a mess.

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I agree I like the back for note 3 far better

I hope that s5 back cover isn't the same as it will be on the note 4

I don't like it either , because I think that faux leather (with faux stitches ) are really tawdry, but at least it is better looking.
Another thing I don't like about Samsung phones is the faux metallic frame: in quite a short time wear and tear make it look very bad

Here an example on s3

 

[maflynn]

Are you going to install the developer preview ?

I'm leaning that way.

 

[GroundLoop]

I'm leaning that way.

I most certainly will be installing it. But I need to wait until Tuesday since I will be on business travel tomorrow.

 

[maflynn]

I'm leaning that way.

I guess I leaned too far on wanting it. I'm at the process of installing the update

 

[TantalizedMind]

Quick little status of the Icon replacement. The battery is performing better (yes I know I said I wasn't going to pay attention ) everything is working as expected.

I have a keeper

Now to wait for 8.1, which everyone expects the developer preview to hit tomorrow so I can't wait.

Hey Maflynn! How is he Icon and WP now that you've had it for at least 3 weeks? And if you upgraded to 8.1, how is it in general and how is Cortana?

 

[maflynn]

Hey Maflynn! How is he Icon and WP now that you've had it for at least 3 weeks? And if you upgraded to 8.1, how is it in general and how is Cortana?

Its a great phone, I did need to get it replaced because of a bad battery and a bad phone jack. The new model is working as expected.

I've had no buyers remorse, its an awesome phone. I didn't think I would really like the UI, though I was intrigued by it. Now that I've used it for a while, its very natural and works so intuitively.

I do have 8.1 on it, and while its only a developer's preview it seems solid and feature rich. It provides the missing pieces to the OS, i.e., notification center and some customizations that iOS/Android enjoyed.

There's still some rough edges, either because its a developer's preview or MS hasn't really figured out how to do it. Such as the music integration. Seems a bit wonky but it works well enough for me.

I'm not a huge apps user, but with that said, the apps I want/need are available. My needs are simple compared to others, though there are a couple of omissions. I still have an iPad so I can use those apps if I need too.



I'd like to see MS provide the tablet versions of Office to these larger phones, and not the mobile edition, which has less tools. With 5" and larger you have the screen real estate to work on the spreadsheets. Nonetheless I have my rMini with Office on it.

As for Cortana, I use it more then Siri, its more powerful then Siri and overall I'm surprised at how well it works. I don't have any experience with Google now so I can't say from first hand experience how it is, but from reviews/comparison videos its a bit better the Google Now but not by much