So, my daughter's 13th birthday was yesterday. The wife and I got her an iPhone 5S (which is what she wanted). While we were at the Verizon store, I was told that I was eligible for the Edge program (I will not explain Edge here...most Vz customers will know what Edge is). I was curious, as I'm tired of always being locked to a phone for 2 years, so I had the Vz shop explain everything to me. I believe the Edge program would benefit people who like to upgrade ahead of 2 years. So, I went home and did some thinking. I'm aware that the Note 4 will eventually be out...I always miss these releases. I almost decided to wait until my contract with my Note 2 ended (that wouldn't have been a bad idea, either). I did some research online and it was very difficult for me to decide which phone I'd like to upgrade to, because the Note 2 is THAT good...seriously.
There were two other phones that caught my eye that I could get through Verizon: The HTC One Max and the LG G2. The thing I didn't like about the Max was that it is just a big HTC One M8. It is also extremely large at 5.9" in display area...that might've been too much for me. Those cons weren't the kickers, though. The kicker was that the back camera was 4MP (really???) And a phone that big (I hate the word phablet, so I won't be using that term) needs a stylus. The LG G2 looks like it would've held my interest...it has LOTS of features and the phone appears to be more responsive than the Galaxy S4 (probably due to Samsung's Touchwiz bloat). The Note 3 is better than both of them, although I was willing to compromise (but only to an extent).
I ended up getting the Note 3. I might've been happy enough with the HTC One Max, but I would not have been happy with that camera. I came close to getting the G2, though. What lured me toward the Note 3 was the fact that I was already familiar with the Note 2, which would help me when using the Note 3. Also, the phone on the Note 3 is spectacular and has slow-motion (120fps) capture and 1080p 60fps capture as well. The charging/syncing port is different, too (using USB 3.0 now and has a funky new port that can still use a regular micro-USB cable to sync).
I got the black version and got an Otter Defender case (will have to sell the Note 2 Otter Commuter case that I have). I sorely missed the belt clip, which the Commuter case doesn't use, but I could never find a Defender case for my Note 2 in local shops. One thing I don't like about the Defender is that built-in screen protector...my stylus doesn't like it at all, so I've been using my finger when texting. I was tempted to cut out the plastic, but I'll try using it for a few weeks instead of being hasty. Another thing: I got my daughter a Lifeproof case for her phone...that damn thing was expensive, but I wanted no excuses that she got it wet or broke it. I wanted to get one for my new phone, but apparently they aren't making them for the Note 3. That's OK, though, because it doesn't have a belt clip.
For some reason, migrating my data to the new phone took forever, but I've been using the Note 2 heavily the last year, so there was much more data that had to be pushed to the new phone. As well, I was never near wifi for it to complete the syncing (was shopping after I got the new phone).
My next purchase will be a larger microSD card (64GB). I ran upon the limit of my 32GB microSD card several times the last 12 months. I might also look into another battery, because I'm using a Pebble smartwatch now and I have to keep BT on for it to work with my phone...my phone is sucking down battery power bigtime. I 'm lucky if I can get 10 hours of usage out of it. If I don't touch the phone, battery life is fine, though.
There was also an Android update waiting for me when I got my hands on the phone (v4.4.3).
Other than getting all my apps installed on the new phone, I've not played with it yet. I still need to get the Next launcher running again (will have to customize a new theme).
I'll post up any new findings I discover/experience.
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