Hang on for 4G? Just get an S3? Advice

DGBVIPER

DGBVIPER

DGBVIPER

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Well, I'm not sure what is best right now but my Contract is due up end of next month (So need to cancel start of Sept)

I currently have a Galaxy S (GT I-9000) which has been good to me over the 2 year contract (bought it when it was first released) but I was disappointed that the S2 was announced/released not long after it and support quickly stopped in the way of updates etc for the phone, so I went down the custom ROM route.

Recently been having a number of issues with the ROMs randomly forgetting all my numbers, deleting them or quadrupling each song in my music library and other general gremlins. I also struggle to get 3G when other people around on the same network (Orange/Everything Everywhere) maybe the 3G/GPS chip is just too dated now on the phone it's not as quick as I feel it should be?

I think my biggest fear is the same will happen if I get an S3, but I heard today about Jelly Bean being due end of August which is promising, however there is a Samsung conference in Berlin which hasn't given much away apart from the announcement of the Note 2 it seems.

For reference I'm looking at the S3 contract which is 24months, phone free and works out at £22.75 p/m.

I suppose it is best to hang on and see what kind of phone is announced next week and any possible release date too?


I'm also keen to make use of 4G when it comes around next year but surely the S3 will not be able to utilise this and I'll have to wait another cycle of the 24month contract to get a 4g phone?

I was tempted to let the current contract end then get a cheap Pay G sim for ~£10 a month and use that until the next big Samsung phone is released but don't think the Note is for me, the S3 seems a nice size. (Theres also rumours around once again about the black version with 64Gb internal.)

So I have about 3 different options right now; what would you do in this position? I fancy a new phone but don't want to get tied in and find a new better Galaxy S is due very soon!
Cheers
 
You would be mad to sign yourself into a 24month contract, even more mad if you what 4g seeing as EE have said they will start rolling it out in October now they have permission.
 
You're right it is the Note 2 being announced (and probably a real launch of the black SGS3 / hello kitty variety) and possibly anything else in the pre-christmas lineup but history teaches us that one superstar handset per form factor, per year is where Samsung are typically going currently so I'm inclined to say get a SGS3 (or if you're willing to wait 4 weeks, an iPhone 5 if it's your sort of thing).

Don't bother with the 64gb one, get a larger SD card. It's massively cheaper.

4G will be very dependant on your current location. While it's big in the press currently it will not be ubiquitous for years to come and then there's the question of speed vs network allowance. Current deals for example give around a gig but at this speed that's almost pointless with the caps so either all networks will have to start giving people more allowance as soon as 4G comes around or we won't be doing much else with 4G that we already do with HSPA+. It's probably worth noting LTE radios currently are... problematic when it comes to battery power if this is a concern for you.

For what it's worth, radios don't date and the Samsung radio in the SGS1 is perfectly fine, did upto 7.2MBit iirc. It's more likely the ROM destroyed your user experience rather than the radio and as always, user things like that can result in better or worse experiences than stock but it is really your choice - stock roms are always built for stability first after all.
 
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Thanks Pike, will have a look at that ROM if I decide to hold onto the S any longer, originally I was using Darky's before It threw a wobbler which seemed pretty highly recommended.

Glaucus said:
You would be mad to sign yourself into a 24month contract, even more mad if you what 4g seeing as EE have said they will start rolling it out in October now they have permission.
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I thought I read somewhere this morning the guardian published that as a mistake instead of typing 2013?
And for what it's worth due to the redemption and cashback I got on the original contract it has cost me very little indeed compared to the initial pricetag of the Galaxy S (Plus when I get rid I will sell it on too.)
That current deal I was tempted by works out pretty well (and I get cashback via Topcashback too) I thought compared to buying the S3 outright and getting a cheap 30 day rolling one.

Myshra said:
You're right it is the Note 2 being announced (and probably a real launch of the black SGS3 / hello kitty variety) and possibly anything else in the pre-christmas lineup but history teaches us that one superstar handset per form factor, per year is where Samsung are typically going currently so I'm inclined to say get a SGS3 (or if you're willing to wait 4 weeks, an iPhone 5 if it's your sort of thing).

Don't bother with the 64gb one, get a larger SD card. It's massively cheaper.
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I already have a 32gb micro SD card I very recently bought for the Galaxy just thought more space is always a bonus, plus perhaps as the black edition is still to be announced could have more RAM or something? I know the Korean/Asian S3's have more.

Myshra said:
For what it's worth, radios don't date and the Samsung radio in the SGS1 is perfectly fine, did upto 7.2MBit iirc. It's more likely the ROM destroyed your user experience rather than the radio and as always, user things like that can result in better or worse experiences than stock but it is really your choice - stock roms are always built for stability first after all.
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I know the bad ROM experiences have tainted my view but before I found out about them the Galaxy S was so slow in comparison! :p
It doesn't help I suppose that I live in a small village so 3G can be patchy at best, TMob have a better signal here but it keeps switching back to Orange with 0-1bar signal it doesn't stick to the best signal.

Thanks for your input so far; as I said I might hang on and see exactly what Samsung announce along with the Note 2 at the conference and if nothing else will go for the S3 on a cheap tariff I think.
 
DGBVIPER said:
It doesn't help I suppose that I live in a small village so 3G can be patchy at best, TMob have a better signal here but it keeps switching back to Orange with 0-1bar signal it doesn't stick to the best signal.
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Not really the fault of the phone. The masts are trying to balance capacity, mine's forever doing this between an Edge and GPRS mast.
 
DGBVIPER said:
I already have a 32gb micro SD card I very recently bought for the Galaxy just thought more space is always a bonus, plus perhaps as the black edition is still to be announced could have more RAM or something? I know the Korean/Asian S3's have more.
Click to expand...

The only difference with the black version that is a definite is the colour, there's also rumours that it may be the 64gb version that was talked about when the phone was first released but nothing concrete.
 
tom_e said:
The only difference with the black version that is a definite is the colour, there's also rumours that it may be the 64gb version that was talked about when the phone was first released but nothing concrete.
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Fair enough, thanks

Oh and I think I am pretty set on being a Samsung customer, I feel the iPhone is very expensive for what it is and I do not use nearly enough minutes, data etc to justify the outlay and monthly cost.
Overall the S3 would work out less than £20 a month for the duration, hard to say no!
 
Google Nexus is better for a true google experience though, and most importantly, regular updates.
 
For what it's worth I'm on the same deal as you're looking it and I'm very very happy with the phone, it not being able to use 4g doesn't really fuss me the speeds on it are already more than good enough for mobile browsing and the odd bit of tethering.
 
tom_e said:
For what it's worth I'm on the same deal as you're looking it and I'm very very happy with the phone, it not being able to use 4g doesn't really fuss me the speeds on it are already more than good enough for mobile browsing and the odd bit of tethering.
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4g isn't purely about speed, it's much more to do with coverage.
 
Just get an S3 and jump to 4G in a few years time when the network and handsets are matured. Plus - There will no doubt be a total and absolute mess if it goes anything like the US with carrier specific versions of phones.
 
Glaucus said:
4g isn't purely about speed, it's much more to do with coverage.
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I suppose I'm lucky I live and work around Birmingham and Wolves so it's never a problem for me, unless I'm off to Wales or somewhere for the weekend but then it's quite nice to have a reason to be uncontactable :D
 
Sin_Chase said:
Just get an S3 and jump to 4G in a few years time when the network and handsets are matured. Plus - There will no doubt be a total and absolute mess if it goes anything like the US with carrier specific versions of phones.
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I should probably of thought of this too, new technology releases are rarely smooth, bug free and ontime.
I'm sure the S3 with it's quad core processor will feel like a rocketship in comparison to my S in all sorts of tasks :)
 
Considering 3G is far from perfect currently i'm sure 4G will be far from it by the time my current 24 month contract is up. I'm not too bothered about being slightly behind anyway.
 
Skillmister said:
Considering 3G is far from perfect currently i'm sure 4G will be far from it by the time my current 24 month contract is up. I'm not too bothered about being slightly behind anyway.
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You seem to off missed the part, where 4g has much better coverage out the box and will be far better than 3G.
 
Considering:

1. A fast 3G speed loads things very quickly anyway

2. Even 3G is still dodgy and not overly reliable, depending on network and area

I really wouldn't worry about 4G at the moment, I suspect there will be more than a few problems with it and it will take quite a long time for it to get going properly/be rolled out to all areas.

Just go for the S3 now, you really can't go wrong. Unless you're using mobile data all of the time and need the speed to tether or something, I doubt you'll be left wanting by 3G.
 
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