LG Optimus G 4G

[Jay]

Is this a good phone?  You can get it for $49.99 with 2-year agreement, Sprint or AT&T

 

Seems pretty nice, not one of the giant phones.

 

Looking to upgrade from my old Samsung GS but don't want a really big phone.

 

I could stay small by going with iPhone but I would rather stick with Android.

 

 

[RallyMo]

The Optimus G is an absolutely awesome phone if you like the design aesthetic. It's pretty much the Nexus 4 (quad core, 4.7 screen, 2GB RAM) with the drawback of not being pure Google and the added benefit of having a better camera, LTE, 32 GB of internal memory (rather than 8/16) and a microSD slot. It's an absolute beast and is only $50.

 

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/compare/LG-Optimus-G,Google-Nexus-4/phones/7458,7531

 

IMO, it's actually the best phone on the market that's available (I really like the S4 and HTC One, but they're not available).

 

If you don't give two craps about pure Google experience, I don't think you can go wrong with it. Go give it a look.

[Jay]

Thanks. What's the advantage of a pure Google experience vs. some other partially Google experience?

[RallyMo]

I think that the primary advantage that most people see is a likelihood of continuing support and software updates for the device until it is no longer technologically capable of supporting new updates. Also, some people don't like he manufacturer specific stuff that is placed on some phones

 

I think a good example of this is the roughly 2+ year old Nexus S. It received updates until the most recent update to Android 4.2.

 

Depending on how much you pay per month and if that kind of stuff appeals to you, you might want to consider going to prepaid and grabbing a Nexus 4:

 

http://www.google.com/nexus/4/

 

If that's not a big deal, that's a nice phone. It really is.

[Count Orlok]

I like that the Nexus 4 gets guaranteed updates but the big thing is the cost. An unlocked Optimus costs $500 on ebay and an unlocked Nexus is $350 on google play. There's no way I'm letting AT&T or Verizon gouge me on a 2 year contract just so I can get a cheap phone. Using an independent provider like Solavei or Straight talk is the best way to go. They just rent space from AT&T or T Mobile and sell you the same plans you'd get from them at half the price. Saves you $500-$1,000 over the lifetime of what would be a two year contract.

[RePLAY]

Optimus G is the best LG phone not names Nexus 4 right now.  At that price, its def worth it.

[Jay]

I think any phone I buy must have a micro-sd slot.

[Jay]

Using an independent provider like Solavei or Straight talk is the best way to go. They just rent space from AT&T or T Mobile and sell you the same plans you'd get from them at half the price. Saves you $500-$1,000 over the lifetime of what would be a two year contract.

 

This is a very interesting suggestion.  I see now why people just sign up with carriers, it's confusing as hell trying to determine if XYZ phone is compatible with Solavei or whether you'll get 4G speed, and even then your choice of phones is limited.  The phone specs are confusing.  Some Galaxy S III specs say dual-core, others say quad-core.  

 

And buying the Nexus 4 from Google Play is confusing. I see no way of knowing if the phone would be compatible with Solavei, or if it comes with a sim card, or what it would cost to buy it separately.

 

So it seems like there is some risk involved with purchasing a phone on the internet, you may not get what you really want/need.  That risk is minimized when you walk into a Sprint store.

 

I went into Sprint the other day to look at the Optimus G.  I didn't like the feel of the phone in my hand.  There were no phones I really fell in love with.  iPhone 5 has a smaller screen than my Galaxy S!  They had Galaxy S III but eh, it's blue!

 

The Sprint guy wanted to make a deal badly.  On the Galaxy S III they were asking $199 each with 2-year deal.  The guy said he would give me $44 for my old Galaxy S and then after I didn't pull the trigger on that he said he would give me $100 more off of each Galaxy S III (my wife and I would have a shared plan).  So I could have had Galaxy S III for $55 each with 2-year plan (TODAY ONLY!!!), vs. $575.00 each from gsmnation.com with Solavei sim card.  The plan (for my wife and me) would be about $160 per month on Sprint vs. $98 on Solavei.  So over a 2-year span I might save about $450 with Solavei, assuming we had no problems with the phones, etc.  And of course Sprint would manage transferring all the data, contacts etc. from our old phones to the new phones, that's worth something.

[RallyMo]

How much data do you use monthly?

[Jay]

How much data do you use monthly?

 

I don't track it, maybe I should.  Maybe 0.5 GB/month.

[stevestevens]

I think any phone I buy must have a micro-sd slot.

 

That was a necessity for me when I got the sIII over the HTC one but I do not nearly use it as much as I thought I would.  There is just so many ways to store stuff now that it is not as important as I thought. 

[Jay]

I already have a 16 GB micro sd card from my old phone so it would make sense to buy a phone with smaller internal flash and expand with the micro sd, rather than have the micro sd sit in a drawer.  This is not a deal-breaker though.

[Count Orlok]

This is a very interesting suggestion.  I see now why people just sign up with carriers, it's confusing as hell trying to determine if XYZ phone is compatible with Solavei or whether you'll get 4G speed, and even then your choice of phones is limited.  The phone specs are confusing.  Some Galaxy S III specs say dual-core, others say quad-core.  

 

And buying the Nexus 4 from Google Play is confusing. I see no way of knowing if the phone would be compatible with Solavei, or if it comes with a sim card, or what it would cost to buy it separately.

 

So it seems like there is some risk involved with purchasing a phone on the internet, you may not get what you really want/need.  That risk is minimized when you walk into a Sprint store.

 

I went into Sprint the other day to look at the Optimus G.  I didn't like the feel of the phone in my hand.  There were no phones I really fell in love with.  iPhone 5 has a smaller screen than my Galaxy S!  They had Galaxy S III but eh, it's blue!

 

The Sprint guy wanted to make a deal badly.  On the Galaxy S III they were asking $199 each with 2-year deal.  The guy said he would give me $44 for my old Galaxy S and then after I didn't pull the trigger on that he said he would give me $100 more off of each Galaxy S III (my wife and I would have a shared plan).  So I could have had Galaxy S III for $55 each with 2-year plan (TODAY ONLY!!!), vs. $575.00 each from gsmnation.com with Solavei sim card.  The plan (for my wife and me) would be about $160 per month on Sprint vs. $98 on Solavei.  So over a 2-year span I might save about $450 with Solavei, assuming we had no problems with the phones, etc.  And of course Sprint would manage transferring all the data, contacts etc. from our old phones to the new phones, that's worth something.

Samsung's Galaxy line in general is confusing because they use different chips in the international versions and I have no idea why. I think the S3 was dual core in the US and quad overseas and the S4 will be quad core here and 8 core overseas. As far as compatibility goes an unlocked phone is compatible with any network that uses sim cards. That's the whole point of an unlocked phone. You don't get a card until you order one from the company but they're cheap. Somewhere between free and $15 depending on the company. I don't know for sure but I'm thinking the salesman sold you a giant pile of BS with his pitch. I see Sprint ads in the paper almost every day about $50 for an S3. On Android your contacts and data info should sync automatically if you've got a gmail account on your device. If you don't then the in store transfer probably will save you a lot of trouble.

 

Being able to test drive a phone in your hand is definitely a benefit of buying in store and the customer service person I had porting my number to straight talk was some Indian who barely spoke English so hopefully an in store transfer would avoid that problem too and there is more room to negotiate on a real carrier. When you're calculating the monthly prices don't forget about all the random phone taxes. The $80/month per person could easily come with another $10 in taxes and fees. It's been years since I was on a contract and my $35 a month plan at the time had an extra $6 in taxes. They've probably only gone up since then. It might or might not be a big deal to you but I'm an incredibly spiteful and petty person who will go to great lengths to avoid companies who charge unadvertised fees because to me that makes them worse than the nazis.

 

With your old Galaxy S you might consider recycling it at an eco atm. http://www.ecoatm.com/find-a-location.html

They'll be the ones that give you the best trade in value for old phones. Especially if it's in terrible shape. There's not a whole lot of them around though so unless one happens to be conveniently nearby where ever you live it's probably not worth the trouble. A Windows phone or Blackberry might be the best bet for a screen size that's not too small but not a brick either.

[RallyMo]

I don't track it, maybe I should.  Maybe 0.5 GB/month.

 

Track it. If you're not using a lot of streaming and your data use is actually that low, I don't think there would be any reason for you to be concerned about throttling on any provider.

 

If you somehow use less than 100 mins of talk a month, TMobile offers a no-contract plan though Walmart that is $30 a month for unlimited text and 4G data w/ 100 mins. 

 

Also, the aforementioned Straight Talk appears to be solid.

 

I've stuck with Sprint as I have a referral plan that's ridiculously reasonable, but I definitely would have jumped already were it not for that and I still might when my contract is up later this year.

[mrwicked]

this thread title needs more Gs.

[RallyMo]

Kevin Gregg has an LG O G.